


Of Quakes and Waves

by Mia_Dragnaire



Series: To Epochs that Never Were [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Ten Years Later (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bungou Stray Dogs Manga Spoilers, Cameos, Canon Universe, Caring Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Child Abuse, Child Death, Comedy, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dazai-Typical Suicide Mentions (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai-Typical Suicide References (Bungou Stray Dogs), Doctor Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flame Lore (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Fluff and Crack, Gen, Graphic Description, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Light Angst, Mafia Boss Byakuran Gesso, Mafia Boss Kozato Enma, Mafia Boss Sawada Tsunayoshi, Manga: Another Story: Ayatsuji Yukito VS Kyougoku Natsuhiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Manipulation, Mentioned Fushimi Omi, Mentioned Oda Sakunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Minor Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Higuchi Ichiyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Mori Ougai is His Own Warning (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nahh old man just buys stuff for his little girls, Nakahara Chuuya Is So Done (Bungou Stray Dogs), Near Death Experiences, OOC because of legit reasons, One-Sided Attraction, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parental Ozaki Kouyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Port Mafia Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Post-Ten Years Later Arc (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Sick Character, Simon Decimo Kozato Enma, Sky Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Suffering Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Suffering Tachihara Michizou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Ten Years Later Verse (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Tri-ni-set Rings (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Vongola Decimo Sawada Tsunayoshi, Worried Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), but like at least 2 years after dazai went AWOL from the port mafia, like maybe a year before canon bsd, no beta we die like men, not many and they're hidden so don't be scared to read on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25100920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mia_Dragnaire/pseuds/Mia_Dragnaire
Summary: The sudden appearance of a baby girl already left Chuuya wary. Adding the fact that the baby had red-orange hair and greyish blue eyes, he becomes speechless. And now, in his home’s dining room, he watched, agape, as the baby floated on her own from her chair with familiar red runes surrounding her.“…hell no”
Relationships: Akutagawa Gin & Hirotsu Ryuurou & Tachihara Michizou, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke & Higuchi Ichiyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Armed Detective Agency Ensemble & Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Armed Detective Agency Ensemble & Yosano Akiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Black Lizard Ensemble & Higuchi Ichiyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Byakuran & Irie Shouichi, Byakuran & Sawada Tsunayoshi & Uni | Yuni, Byakuran & Uni | Yuni, Byakuran Gesso & Tatsuki Gesso, Dazai Osamu & Tatsuki, Dazai Osamu & Yosano Akiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Hirotsu Ryuurou & Nakahara Chuuya & Ozaki Kouyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Irie Shouichi & Spanner, Kozato Enma & Byakuran, Kozato Enma & Kozato Mamiko, Mori Ougai & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya & Nakahara Mamiko, Nakahara Chuuya & Ozaki Kouyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya & Port Mafia Ensemble (Bungou Stray Dogs), Yosano Akiko & Tatsuki
Series: To Epochs that Never Were [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031814
Comments: 20
Kudos: 108





	1. A Speck of Earthly Dust

* * *

_It was something meant to be ignored, discarded even, due to its insignificance.  
Yet, he found himself at a loss on his hesitance to leave it behind.  
_

* * *

He was pissed.

Not enraged-at-Dazai, pissed

But still pissed nonetheless.

The past few days had been, in the Port Mafia’s executive’s words, no better than shitty. Don’t get him wrong. He greatly enjoys his job. He revels and excels at it but there were some days that he just wants nothing but to give the people around him a good smackdown. 

The self-assignments of his boss were usually the ones he awaits because he can exercise his skill and if push comes to shove, his Ability. Unfortunately, in the past week, the new recruits or grunts were weak as fuck or possibly stupid. He doesn’t even use guns as much as the rest but even he knows not to keep a finger on the trigger unless there’s an actual need to shoot or go for the kill.

It wasn’t a surprise that the one who got accidentally shot wasn’t the only one who got sent to the medical bay.

The backlog of the paperwork was a disaster. When he got to the root of the problem on why it was such, he wanted to smack someone’s head to the ground – all because of a missing page. When the news got to the lower grunts in charge of the particular file, they all started to panic and run all over like headless chickens. It turned out, the particular page didn’t get printed along with the rest because someone forgot to refill the papers on the printer. Therefore, it wasn’t actually lost or stolen. 

Suffice to say, they all got punished for being the idiots they are. 

No one still knew who made the mistake or what happened to him.

Aside from that, most of his other missions were done full-time. It would’ve been the saving grace of the week but the damn mackerel was being an annoying prick messing up most, if not all, of his progress with that irritating Agency he had run off to. 

So sleep?

What a joke.

Thankfully and finally, he had managed to finish it all. Due to that, the boss had gifted him a short vacation per se. Truthfully, he would opt to continue working but just for this specific time, he decides to give it a rest. And for the first time in months, he had felt peaceful and content. 

As he closes his eyes, he immediately enters a dreamless sleep. 

Or so he thinks. 

The lights were out and his room was void of noise except for his breathing. A few hours had already passed since he had succumbed to the comfort of his pillows and bed. Even any slight noise couldn’t rouse him from his well-deserved slumber. 

And then that was when something happened.

The disturbance could be called minuscule. A tiny speck of light, something akin to a self-glowing glitter, had appeared without any pretense above the executive’s body. It only appeared for what seemed like half-second. Most would definitely ignore such an occurrence but for what happened after that, it would definitely make a common man raise a curious brow.

A toddler lay asleep on top of Chuuya’s chest as if seemingly belonging there. 

It was only after a couple of hours later when he was about to turn over to one side, that he realized that there was something heavy weighing down on his chest making it slightly harder for him to breathe. When his natural instinct came up to speed with what was happening, he cursed himself for being unguarded in his sleep. He immediately prepared himself to outmaneuver what or whoever it was brave to attack him when he was asleep.

All those attacks and plans he had come up that moment went down the drain though.

At that moment he finds the sleeping child on his chest, he became dumbfounded. He was still guarded just in case it turns out to be a plot for him to lower his guard. He tries to feel any malicious intent around him and finds none. After checking multiple times, his attention switches to the kid on his chest, and unknowingly goes on to observe the child’s features.

Since it was dark, he couldn’t see clearly but deep inside of him, he immensely feels that the kid looks familiar. He couldn’t place where he had seen him. Unfortunately for him, as much as he wanted to put a name on the look-a-like of the child, his tiredness still caught up to him. And he was off to sleep, again.

* * *

Time passes by and as the sun finally rose up in the sky. Chuuya yawns and stretches his arms to pop some joints. He sits on his bed and squints at the bright light passing between the gap in the curtains. As he lifts his hand to scratch his chest, he stops midway. He feels like he was forgetting something. He vaguely remembers that he woke up sometime in the night. For what reason, he doesn’t exactly remember but the word child appeared in his head.

He shakes his head.

He doesn’t have time for something stupid this early in the morning.

Whatever it was, it was just a weird dream.

He takes a quick shower and wore a blood-red polo shirt, black tie and jacket, pants, and brown shoes. Not forgetting his signature hat, he drags himself out of the room along with small luggage. After handing a leave of absence letter to his boss, Mori Ougai, for formality’s sake, he went out of the Port Mafia’s doors with a relieved smile.

As much as he wanted to use his powers to quickly reach his destination, he decides to take a cab just right outside the confines of the city. Paying the right amount of cash to the driver, he walks the rest of the way to a small house in the middle of the woods. He would’ve gotten a much classier place since he could afford it, but he rarely spends time in this place and it would be a hassle to clean so it stays as it is. As soon as he got in, it didn’t take long for him to find his bed and crash land on it. He stared at the ceiling for god knows long and soon enough drifted to sleep again.

_guwah mmmbbah_

He sleepily blinked his eyes open and checked the time and date on his bedside clock. He raised an eyebrow when he realized that he had slept for almost half a day straight. Yawning, he threw himself out of the bed and looked outside to the dark night skies. He goes out of his room and that was where he heard it loud in clear. His senses went overdrive and sleepiness went out of his system. Activating his Ability, he walked in elevated silence down the hall. Nearing the living room, where the sound was gradually softer but nearer, he immediately went on offense only for him to stop his perfectly-aimed kick at what he saw. 

A kid.

Not exactly school-age but more like an infant.

He was dumbfounded for a second before he schooled his features and tried to figure out if there were other intruders in his house. But before he could move onto another room, he felt a tug in his legs and saw the child reach his arms out to him. He stared long and hard at the child debating whether he should just ignore it or carry it. His eye twitched but reluctantly picked up the kid who, quickly enough, snuggled in his chest and had fallen asleep.

He was stupefied at the contact. 

He had seen and had taken care, which were rare cases, of some children back then when he was still in the Sheep and the other kids under the Mafia’s care but never ones this young. Never did he also find children who were comfortable with him. Akutagawa was way worse with his dangerous Ability and infamous temper. Nevertheless, he was sure children would scramble away from him screaming for their parents.

Sighing after heavily checking if there were anything else that could be dangerous for him or them – he reminds himself that there was a kid on his arms now – he decides to go back to his bedroom and properly let the child sleep on the bed. Seeing that he doesn’t want to take the couch and the child doesn’t take up much space on the bed, he ends up lying next to the kid. He doesn’t move much anyway when sleeping so he doesn’t fear squishing the kid at some point.

As he tried to find sleep again, he suddenly feels something uncomfortable on his right hand. With a questioning look, he noticed how one of his fingers was entrapped by the small fist of the child beside him. Irritated, he tried plucking each dainty finger one by one. It didn’t take long before the child whimpered in his sleep that Chuuya stopped trying. Dumbfounded, he decided to ignore the numbing feeling in his hand due to the prospect of the child’s crying which would further make him more exasperated than he already is. 

With his finger clasped in one of the kid’s small palms, he blankly stared up the ceiling and whispered,

“What.The.Fuck.”

* * *

He knew he drifted off to sleep again sometime that night. But as soon as he felt something patting his cheek, his eyes opened wide only to stare at the babbling baby who had somehow crawled up to his chest. He wished that it was one of those weird dreams instead but apparently reality slapped him in the face, literally, when the kid tapped his cheek again.

Grumbling to himself, he took the baby by the armpits and marched out of his bedroom. He didn’t know what came over him last night but he should’ve left this child in some orphanage then. Call him heartless or anything but this was supposed to be a vacation, a well-earned rest before diving back into more missions. There wasn’t supposed to be a child in the equation.

As he got out of the house, he internally debated whether to use his Ability to get to higher ground and easily find a random orphanage or not because it may traumatize the kid. He looked at the child blinking back up at him and decided it wouldn’t matter since the child isn’t his responsibility. Activating his Ability, For the Tainted Sorrow, he glows red and shoots up to the sky. Midway his ascent he felt the child shake in his arms and it made him doubt his actions. But as he heard the child squeal in happiness, it unconsciously made him smirk.

Jumping across high-rise buildings had never been this thrilling for him. However, that thrill quickly disappeared as soon as he landed discreetly in an alley beside an orphanage he’d seen before. This was simple – he walks up to the front door, places the child down the floor, ring the doorbell and he hightails back to his home. So far, he had done the first two but somehow, for whatever reason he couldn’t fathom, he couldn’t bring himself to press the doorbell.

His eyes kept switching from the child to the doorbell and he was getting irritated with himself. And as if sensing that something was going to happen, the child's eyes started to water and began hiccupping. This sent warning bells to Chuuya’s head. He wasn’t weak to crying people but he wasn’t that heartless enough to leave a child bawling his eyes out, much less ones that are about a year old.

“…Fuck it”

He carries the child back up and runs away from the street. The sun was just rising and people started to fill up the streets. He somehow ended up in a park and set the child in his lap as he mentally berated himself for being a pathetic weakling and surrendering to the charms of a child. If this was part of someone’s schemes, a certain suicide-maniac came into his mind, then he’d admit that it was working far too well. But knowing that person, he wouldn’t resort to this kind of plan no matter how they hated each other’s guts.

Sighing, he stared at the child who was busy making grabby motions on a butterfly that flew by. Without any warning, both of their stomachs grumbled in unison. He resisted the urge to facepalm now realizing that he had to feed more than one mouth now. Smelling something bad, he couldn’t help but pinch his nose in disgust and also realized something else.

“Shit”

* * *

The trip to the supermarket was one that he would bury with him to the grave. He knew the basic things to get so he stalked up to the aisle where most of the baby stuff was. He was utterly dumbfounded though when he found out there were so many varieties of milk and diapers.

“What does beanstalk have to do with milk?”

“How the fuck would I know which kind would fit you?”

It doesn’t take long for the shopkeeper and other costumers to notice him. He probably looked some kind of hoodlum with the way he was acting. Seeing how they crowded around him, he had no choice but to suck it up and ask for help. The older women had the gall to giggle at him and play with the child as they recommended him which brands to use. He initially wanted to just get the essentials but the old ladies insisted to buy rattles and an assortment of stuff for ‘playtime and teething’ or whatever. 

“Aww, you want this too? Oh, yes you do.”

“Ooh-oh Ahh-oh”

“Yes, your dada will buy you this toy too.”

The amount and price of the items weren’t a problem since he has a black card to pay for it.

Yet, he was flabbergasted by so many things he found himself paying for at the counter. 

By the end of that ridiculous trip, he was so ready to punch someone to kingdom come. And the worst part wasn’t the embarrassment of buying all that stuff, it was the fact that they assumed that the child was his.

He scoffed at the thought.

It was a good thing he had good control over himself not attacking civilians. But the thought stuck to him like glue all the way back to his house. After somehow cleaning her excretion in the most enlightening way – he had also discovered the baby’s gender – he ends up feeding her with the mushy ‘baby’ food the women told him to buy. 

With the baby accounted for, he took his time eating convenience store-bought food. He could’ve cooked up his own meal but he didn’t feel like it. Besides, the kid might do something weird the moment he turns his back around. Shaking his head at the thought, he quietly observes the kid, who was busy munching her saggy breakfast on the baby chair. It didn’t take long for the baby girl to notice him looking and he raised an eyebrow at this.

Without any warning, he was gifted with happy smile.

“…tch” 

Taken aback by that reaction, he could only turn his face away. Fighting hard to prevent himself from grinning or feeling something, he proceeds to munch off another onigiri. With the moment passing, he continues to alternately feed the baby and himself. Now that he could focus and see better with the lights on, it finally registered in his head the features the child held.

The child had orange hair but it had reddish tint in it unlike his. The baby girl also had blue eyes but were darker than his as it was a bit grayer. Her irises looked like some sort of compass but he figured it might be a defect. And as much as he wanted to deny it, she does look like him. It was no wonder those old women thought she was his child. He was sure he never had engaged in such activities and he also made sure that if he ended up drunk, he would only be in the company of his most trusted subordinates. 

Surely, the kid wasn’t his at all.

Right?

He groaned as he shut his eyes and ran his hand down his face several times. He did a mental check of all the times in the past year he got in a party or any occasion he most probably had a drink. He was sure that he didn’t do it any time when he was sober. The problem was when he was not because he only ends up with vague memories of any of those. Even so, whether she was his or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the kid somehow resembles him and it doesn’t bode well for him and her. He has many enemies and most, if not all, would use any sort of leverage against him. 

Including children.

He grunts as he turned his face back to the kid only for him to jump in surprise not finding her across him. He only took his eyes off of her for few seconds and something like this happens. He was just thinking about how his enemies might use the child against him. He didn’t even feel anyone coming into his house and it was daylight. As he was about to tug his hair out in frustration, he heard the child’s babble somewhere above. His jaw drops as he looked up and saw her floating a few meters over his head surrounded by red runes almost similar to his own Ability.

“…hell no.”


	2. Gravitational Attraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's obvious since this is posted in a "fanfiction" site but I'll still say it.  
> I don't own anything except the plot and the OC(s). (Is it still an OC even if it's a baby?)
> 
> BTW (if anyone didn't read the tags) This is set about a year before canon BSD aka Atsushi's arrival to Yokohama.

* * *

_As the law states: the closer one gets to a source, the harder it is to push away.  
In his case, the satellite drew him in, to orbit in her space._

* * *

It has been days

Or maybe a few hours

The bags under his eyes got heavier

The pills did not do their fucking job

Not once did he feel rested.

Ever since he discovered that the baby had, by hell's grace, gravity powers similar to his, he wasn't able to sit or sleep still. He had never been this agitated in his entire existence and the cause was in the form of a gravity manipulator kid. At first, he wanted to take the kid to the Special Abilities Division of the government but remembering his own experience with that crowd, that decision was immediately trashed. So, for the past several, he lost count at this point, hours he was hands-on in keeping the child fed and grounded to prevent her from floating randomly in his house.

He had discovered and learned so much about babies in the past few days that he almost broke down by the end of each hour. Sleeping time was tiring as hell, as he always woke up with the kid on his chest when he clearly put her to sleep on the other side of the bed. Feeding time was messy as fuck which ended with him changing clothes at least thrice per eating time. But out of everything they did, taking a bath was currently by far the most difficult, most taxing, and most exasperating thing he had ever encountered in the last 5158 minutes.

It didn't even look hard when he looked it up on the net.

Nevertheless, he ended up taking a bath twice a day. One for being drenched along with the splashing, and another as his actual bath. He didn't even want to count the times he had to take one because of food mishaps. And before he could actually step into the bathroom, he had to make sure the baby was in a deep sleep. Because the first time he left her awake just to take a short shower, the rest of the furniture inside of his house got turned upside down.

He was in dire need for a drink, or several.

Heck, he'd even take a box of cigarettes, for all he could care.

Too bad he had a kid to raise and care for.

No wonder new parents look murderous just about every single day.

And as this most restless vacation was about to end, he finds himself in another dilemma – a much bigger problem.

"How the fuck do I sneak you in?"

Because as much as he didn't want to lie to his boss, the mere presence of this kid would tarnish the reputation he had built-up in the past years in no time flat. Gossips travel like an epidemic in the Port Mafia and who knows how far this information gets even outside. Sighing as he officially locked the door to what could've been his well-deserved vacation, he looked at the little girl in his arms biting a rubber "teething" toy.

It was well into the night and while most of the mafia's work is done in these conditions, the people in the buildings were significantly lesser. So, if he were to aim it right so that no one, preferably, would see him come back physically to the offices, he had to leave now. Once again activating his Ability, he leaps up high to the sky along with his and the child's new belongings.

Unbeknownst to others, there were a thousand or so ways you could enter the main building of the Port Mafia but it was privy to those members of the mafia. And the much-hidden ones, only known by those in the main circles of the boss. Hopefully, Chuuya thought, that the one he chooses wasn't currently being used by any of his subordinates.

To his relief, there was no one using the particular passage he chose.

This passage was one of the old mostly unused ones so he was sure that those recently installed high-tech surveillance cameras weren't scattered anywhere here. Arriving at the main hallways, he was sure that the fast pace he was going equaled that of his beating heart. When she began fussing about, he had half the mind to cover her mouth to quiet her. However, since it might suffocate her, he just continued on covertly shushing her until he reached his office and room. There were a couple of close calls with some grunts but he just glared them away while successfully hiding the girl with his long coat.

"…small mercies…"

He whispered as he lay the kid down on his bed. Sometime along the way, she went to sleep so he was able to clear the few turns toward his room. Looking at the child for one last time, he leaves for his desk where a bunch of papers had been piled up due to not being there for the past few days. Although he was tired enough as it is, his adrenaline was still kicking in his system so he begins sifting the many papers according to their importance.

He got so focused in it that he barely registers the knocking sound at his door. Without lifting his head from the paper he was reading, he tells whomever the person was to come in. Recognizing that the person was Akutagawa, he started to sweat. Showing no emotion in his face despite getting worried, he listened as his close subordinate told him of the boss' orders about a late-night executive-only meeting. As he was about to leave, Akutagawa added one last thing.

"Oh, and the boss said to also include the 'add-on'…"

He almost forced the ground to swallow himself up.

* * *

He stood outside the meeting room's door for Arahabaki knows how long.

As much as he wanted to ignore the latter part of the message, the repercussions for that would be such a pain in the ass than the other option so he chose to bring her along. He wasn't sure what to think of this 'sudden' meeting but he was dead-set on keeping her.

Truthfully, for the past few days despite all the grievances and problems that arose, and the energy and exasperation the child had managed to take out of him, he had grown attached and gotten used to the kid – something he won't ever say in their faces. He also had a strange feeling that he should keep the baby girl near him. He'd just find a way to raise the kid somehow if they decided to 'kick' her out.

He knows it could happen.

Even if the boss was fond of children.

Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for his reputation's impending doom, he pushed the door open to see that his seat was the only one empty. Indifferent, he headed to his place ignoring Ace's obvious stare and Kouyou's subtle glance at him. The silence remained for quite some time as if there were no people at all in the room.

That is until Ace let out a sickening snicker.

Chuuya knows that the man got a, or a lot actually, of screws loose. His laugh rubbed off of him in all the wrong ways to the point he almost immediately activated his Ability just so he could bash his whole person to the wall. Appreciatively, Mori's cough caught his attention and he stopped. Now that it was quiet again, Chuuya almost didn't want to look at his boss who was probably the most invested in his circumstances among the people in this room.

"Now that we have all arrived," Chuuya stiffened as he felt his boss' eyes linger at him, "I would like to first hear about a certain… child that has entered our premises."

Clenching his teeth as a form of resistance, he finally decided to tell them how he had acquired the child. Skipping over the store fiasco and some other unspeakable experiences, he mentally took inventory of each of their reactions. Mori's expression was unreadable as always but Chuuya knew he was the one who would most likely make fun of him the most after this. Kouyou had a calm façade but she had a small close-lipped smile but one without an ulterior motive. Unlike the only woman in the room, Ace still had that irritating smirk on his face. Once he finished talking, the meeting room was silent once again.

"You are sure she really isn't yours?"

He really wanted to fling the other person away but seeing that it was his boss who asked he could only properly respond, "Despite how she looks similar to me…No, she's not mine."

"…but she can float?" Ace smirks further as Chuuya quickly looked towards where he was pointing.

As if sensing that she was caught, the red light surrounding her disappeared and she went into free fall. The others didn't move at all and just watched as Chuuya vaulted over his chair in practiced ease. Thankfully, Chuuya was already so used to the on and off of her powers, he was able to reach her before she hit the floor.

"You are nothing but bad timing…" he grunted as he slowly stood up and carried the now-awake baby back to the table.

With his boss having a sort of expectant look on him and Kouyou looking at him as a grandparent would to her child introducing a grandchild, he sighs, "Her floating doesn't prove that she's my daughter."

"You could always tell us the truth," Ace sniggered provocatively, "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes…"

And before Chuuya could explode, the Port Mafia's boss quickly took the reins and suggested, "I could always crosscheck her DNA with yours."

Mori eyed him in all seriousness, "I am still a licensed doctor."

Chuuya remained silent as he contemplated the pros and cons of such a decision. On one side, he knows this was somehow a ploy by his boss and it would most likely land him in a few more 'side errands' for him. But on the other side, this was a chance for him to finally know whether she was actually his or not.

Somehow, he felt it was a little more worth the risk.

"Fine"

Mori, knowing already the outcome, nodded as he said, "But in the meantime, she'll be put in-"

"NO!"

The Port Mafia boss inwardly chuckled as he watched his youngest executive stammer an explanation, "I can k-keep watch. I know what I'm dealing with."

* * *

To be honest, Chuuya was a tiny bit disappointed.

Just tiny speck.

Almost negligent.

.

.

.

Fuck it, who was he kidding?

Somehow, as the day slowly ticked by and the time to know of the results arrived, he was leaning more towards the possibility that the child was his. And it was not in any of the reasons most would think of. Sure, it would ease his mind that he did not, in fact, actually did the deed that resulted in the girl being born. But in another note, he would most likely have to let the baby go.

The idea just didn't sit well with him now.

He admits got attached to this small being so fast. And now that the results, which Mori handed to him, say that they were in no way related to each other, he was slightly tempted to tear the paper apart. As he was trying to keep expression in a neutral state, Mori, on the other hand, was also trying to keep his face straight and hide the grin in his face. In his point of view, as the baby was in Chuuya's arms, the child had no idea of what was happening and just continued on either putting man's hair in her mouth or tugging on it.

He had a soft spot for Elise but this just takes the cake.

Nonetheless, he still had to ask, "So what are you going to do now?"

Chuuya still stared hard at the paper as if he was going to burn it to ashes. His head was in turmoil. He doesn't want to let her go but at the same time, he also wants to. Like a mantra, he keeps on reminding himself that the child would be in better – safer – hands away from the mafia – from him. But at the same time, she reminds him of himself back then when he awoke with Arahabaki fused inside of him. If he wasn't wrong then her powers might as well be the result of what they did to him before.

And she was way younger than him.

Even so,

She knows not of the power she holds within.

And no one knows how it feels like better than him.

"If it helps," Mori spoke as Chuuya snapped his attention to him, "I've asked some people who owe me favors to peek through the Japanese registry to see who she is and who her parents are…"

"And do you know what came up?" Mori turned away from him to the large computer screen and pressed a button on the keyboard.

"Nothing…" Chuuya looked up at the screen showing all series of DNA matchups having red X marks.

Mori side glanced at him before looking again at the screen, "It's as if she doesn't exist at all."

Then and there, Chuuya made up his mind.

Without looking at his executive, Mori already knew that Chuuya would keep the baby by his side. For the entire day, he had already observed how affectionate the two were to each other. He didn't mean to come off as dismissive but he just wanted to be sure of the child's connections, or lack thereof. Since he is fond of children, another one wouldn't make a difference. Perhaps, once this one grows a little bit more, Elise would have a playmate near her age.

'Maybe, she could play a part in that contingency plan…' Mori thought as he turned off the screen.

"I'll give you lesser Mafia-related work for now," he told Chuuya as he headed for the door, "but I'll increase your pay since her needs will come out of it."

Chuuya almost took a double-take at his boss's words. He did expect a bit of leeway but he didn't think it would be this much. He looked at the baby in his arms who noticed the attention being given to her, babbled up a storm, and giggled. He couldn't help but smirk at the child in return.

"By the way," Mori asked as he paused in front of the door.

Chuuya took his attention away from the girl in his arms and listened intently to his boss.

"What would be her name?"

* * *

"Nakahara Mamiko*"

Ozaki Kouyou looked at Chuuya in amazement. He was feeding the baby girl, Mamiko, to help her go to sleep. It was as if it was just yesterday when Mori had taken in the 15-year-old boy and now he was holding a baby at 21. She knew Mamiko wasn't actually his child but to her, it didn't matter. Once the mafia accepts a child, he or she might as well belong to the mafia.

That was how it worked for most of their members.

She lifts the sleeves of her kimono to hide the genuine smile on her face. It wouldn't do if Chuuya feels teased by it. She would still like to observe the new addition to their family. Truthfully, she was amazed at how well the young man adjusted to having a baby around. If anything, no offense to her old charge, he doesn't really strike her as a babysitter much less a hands-on parent.

But then again, this might be good for him.

"Do you…want to hold her?"

Kouyou resisted the urge to coo at the two. She thought he wouldn't let the girl be in another person's arms. She nodded and watched as Chuuya internally hesitates in handing Mamiko to her. Eventually, Chuuya relented and gave her the child. Gently rocking the baby who was staring back at her in curiosity, she hums a soft lullaby. A short while later, Mamiko's breaths steadied and she was deep asleep.

"How the f-"

"Language, Chuuya-kun," Kouyou hushed him, "I commend you for being able to take great care of Mami-chan for the past days but you have to drop the curses…at least while you're with her."

Kouyou hummed in delight seeing Chuuya's dumbfounded look. She headed for the crib in his room. Immediately after she was notified of his decision the other day, she ordered the most gorgeous, in her opinion, crib she could find and placed it in his own bedroom. Putting the pink blanket over the child, she returned to where her old charge was.

She knew he had something more to say than just notify her of the baby girl's name.

"So, what is it?" she starts after she settled on a chair.

Hands clasped under his chin, he muttered, "…her powers…"

With a delicate eyebrow raised, she asked, "What of them?"

"Ane-san, you know how our Abilities came to be, right?" his clenched hands lower to the table, "No child this young could activate it…unless…"

"…they had a hand in it," Kouyou nods as the gravity around her became unsettled.

"Those bastards…" the orange-head leaned forward as he used his clenched hands to cover the growing furious expression in his face, "as if one wasn't already enough…"

Kouyou sighs as she looked back towards the door to her fellow executive's bedroom, "But...wouldn't this be good?"

"What…" his head snapped back up trying his might not to glare at the older woman.

"She's here with us…with you," She said seriously in a serene manner, "You'll guide her – teach her how to handle her powers."

"I know that," he mutters looking away from Kouyou.

"Then what are you worried about?" she probes on further as the gravity manipulator leaned back on his chair and looked up to the ceiling.

"...being an actual wuss," he sarcastically spits out, "Heck, I can't even properly control the full extent of Corruption without that bastard's help…"

"What if…" he shuts his eyes as if in pain and whispers, "What if I lose control and she loses control?"

With half-lidded eyes, she stood up and walked in front of Chuuya's desk. She resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose with how her old charge was not acting like himself. This vulnerable side of him comes once in a blue moon but it wasn't unwelcome. She understands where he was coming from and the implication of his words. However, Mamiko doesn't need him like this right now. She needs a stable and responsible adult figure.

She stared straight at Chuuya's bluish eyes and said,

"You won't."

* * *

"What do you mean she's gone?!" a man's shout reverberated throughout the whole mansion making the servants wonder who ticked off the normally soft-spoken man.

Inside the office was another man who nonchalantly replied, "Oh you know…like, poof."

The petite man wanted to rip his hair off as much as he would rip the other person's head off as he exasperatedly continued to ask, "Where is she?! Where did you send her?!"

With a quiver in his mouth, the other man replied, "That wasn't my fault actually".

"I don't care whose fault was it just tell me where she is," the petite man tried again, eyes burning red trying not to send the other person crashing – buried – into the ground.

The other man popped a marshmallow in his mouth and didn't answer for a bit. The two were in a stalemate but the tension around them was thick enough to know that no one should go near in that room. Soon enough, he cocked his head to the side in contemplation. Seconds turned into minutes and finally, the man sat up straight and faced the other.

"I really don't know."

"That's not the answer I'm looking for!" the man fumed and the nearby objects trembled and started floating.

The taller man sighed as he ate another marshmallow before saying, "You're not the only one, you know."

"What…" the shorter man frowned as the objects went back to their proper places, "do you mean?"

"Areth is…" he frowns visibly disturbed and helpless, "He's...in a coma."

The shorter man calmed down passing the other an understanding gaze. Silence enveloped the two as they retreated to their own thoughts. The sudden knocking shattered the uncertain solace and the two men whipped their heads towards the door where a young maid entered.

With a tremble in her voice, she said, "Sir…the young master..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information:  
> *Mamiko is written as 雅美子. "雅" is refinement, elegance, grace. "美" is beauty. "子" is a word that comes after a woman's name, child.
> 
> A/N:  
> At the rate I'm going and with busy times ahead, I've decided to update this story on a monthly basis (just like BSD manga lol).
> 
> Chapter 3: September


	3. An Abyssmal Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little boring chapter but this is an inside look to what Chuuya does with Mamiko so...
> 
> WARNING: Slight graphic description of blood, etc.  
> Anyways, Enjoy!

* * *

_It is such a morbid thing – death, that is.  
Yet, society is drawn to looking for what is beyond the deep and dark abyss._

* * *

Now, there weren’t many things that could phase Chuuya.

He could jump out of skyscrapers and airplanes, and still land on the ground unscathed. He could demolish armed groups of people and organizations overnight, if he so wished. With the amount of merit he had done under the Port Mafia’s name, he had become its current youngest executive. He developed quite an ego of being strong and not so easily scared.

But with a child, a mere several-month-old baby no less, he became a little more on edge.

No scratch that.

He became paranoid.

Initially, he thought that she was just having trouble finding a good position to sleep. And like what Kouyou told him, he shouldn’t become a ‘helicopter parent’ and spoil the kid. He doesn’t understand why or how parents become helicopters but somehow, he became a bit more tolerant – resisting to go to her side because he heard ‘something-like-a-cry’ sound she makes. Thus, he tried as much to ignore the tiny sounds she made and went on organizing the boxes of clothes that suddenly appeared in his room sometime the past week.

He was sure it was all his boss’ doing.

No wonder Elise found him annoying.

Anyhow, he somehow arranged all outfits that ‘magically appeared’ in the space he made in his own closet. Brushing the sweat that formed in his forehead, he headed back to his office to read off some files he still hadn’t made progress with. Drowning out the small noises from his bedroom, he picked up the first sheet in the pile and read. He didn’t even make it past the second paragraph when he felt a sudden shift in gravity.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he finally decided to put a stop to this resisting.

Looking over the crib, he already felt bad seeing Mamiko’s tear-stained cheeks. He sighed as he took her into his arms and frowned at how warm she felt by his skin. Carefully taking off the glove on his free hand, he placed it over her forehead and it did feel hotter than normal. He also began to notice that her irregular breathing wasn’t because of her crying.

He knew this wasn’t normal.

With Mamiko suddenly sneezing and almost breaking the glass window pane in his bedroom, he began to panic. He knew she was sick but he wasn’t a doctor. Sure, he got sick before but not like this. He didn’t even break anything whenever he sneezed. He suddenly thought that the child might’ve gotten some unknown disease or that deadly virus that was recently making rounds across the sea. It was unlikely but a voice at the back of his head kept on reminding him that there was a chance that it could.

There was a chance that she could die.

Coupled with the once again crying child, Chuuya suddenly felt helpless again.

As his thoughts nearly spiraled down to more depressing matters, Mamiko coughed making the glass window have more cracks on it. If he didn’t have any reflexes to counter the change in gravitational force on the window, he was sure he would’ve had to subtract money for the window replacement on his paycheck.

“Tsk, now’s not the time to be thinking about depressing shit.”

He gets the fear out of his system and goes out to find his boss. If there was anyone in this building who knew anything about curing this, it was Mori. Like a rocket on a mission, he spared no glance to any subordinate he passed, if there were any, as he rushed down the halls. Just as he was about to turn a corner, a person bumped into the force field he built in case Mamiko sneezed and affected the gravity around them again.

“What are you using your Abil- Ho, what do we have here?”

There on the floor was a subordinate, who had an addiction to bombs shaped like lemons, he didn’t want to meet. Motojirou Kajii was one of the more publicly known members of the mafia and despite knowing that he could wipe the floor with him, he was not up for this conversation. Not when Mamiko could be at the brink of possible death.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Chuuya said as he stepped to the side, “I have to go to the boss.”

“The boss isn’t here though,” the lemon bomb specialist thought aloud, “He’s out of town for a week or so.”

His words put a stop in his tracks. Eyes wide, he watched how Mamiko struggled to breathe properly. The thousands of scenarios he had somehow successfully locked up at the back of his head all came back in full throttle and he honestly felt sick himself. It took all his strength for his legs not to buckle down and crash on the ground.

Mamiko was sick.

His boss, the only doctor he knew, was not here.

“Fucking hell”

* * *

Motojirou was coming back from one of his labs. He had enough experiments for today and was aiming to take a stroll in the building before going for an afternoon snack. Little did he expect that he would crash, quite literally, to one of the executives of their group. Heck, he didn’t even think that that same boy – the boy who would get excessively drunk and would spout angsty poetry about a mackerel – would be carrying a baby at this point in his life.

Perhaps, that was why the boss had purchased many dresses, which would not fit Elise at all, the other day.

Hearing Chuuya curse wasn’t anything new but somehow, he felt that it meant a lot more than the usual. Motojirou stood behind Chuuya awkwardly as he observed the younger man be in a frozen state. As much as how he wanted to just end this abrupt meeting, because, in the name of all scientific things, this orange-headed man not responding was never a good sign.

But his curiosity overruled his survival instinct.

“What,” he gulps as he saw him twitch, “…do you n-need the boss for?”

Seeing no reaction from the gravity manipulator, Motojirou prepared himself to dodge and run away in case he goes in for the kill. He didn’t mean to phrase the question that way but he just blurted what came to mind. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he watched Chuuya’s head slowly turn to him. He was faced with the fiercest of glares in his entire life and he was nearly pissing himself off.

“She’s sick”

He heard it clearly of course. Despite being a bomber specialist himself, he had preventive measures whenever he tests his bombs. Therefore, he still has near-perfect hearing. What he didn’t understand was how he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and just walk away from this conversation, if you could even call it that.

“Oh,” he replied unintelligently, “Do you…want help?”

“hah?” Chuuya fully faced him with indifference.

Somehow, Motojirou felt he would live much longer if the Chuuya he was talking to was angry or maybe even when he’s drunk and sappy. With the orange-haired young man taking a step forward, Motojirou took two backward. The pressure on Motojirou’s shoulders increased exponentially and he believes that if pushed further, he will not make it to see the next sunrise.

Maybe not even the moonrise.

“What makes you-”

“What’s going on here?” Kouyou’s voice dissipated the tension between the two which made Motojirou finally breathe.

Eyeing Chuuya, Kouyou moved over to his side in a quick manner. The self-proclaimed science enthusiast didn’t see what happened since Kouyou towered over the two. Whatever they talked about didn’t involve him so he will respect that.

“But, Ane-san-” Chuuya gritted his teeth.

Kouyou looked at him sternly, “No buts, Chuuya. The more you prolong this, the harder it would be for Mami-chan.”

Motojirou refused to listen to their supposed private conversation. He figures that now that the attention wasn’t on him, he should hightail it back to his room. Unfortunately, his near escape didn’t get past the Golden Demon Ability user.

“Motojirou”

“YES,” he squeaked.

“How sure are you to diagnose this child and cure her?” Kouyou calmly asked making him gulp but relax at the same time.

“W-well, I am no doctor b-but,” he scratched the back of his head, “I think I can figure out what’s wrong with her?”

Chuuya looking at him distrust made him want to retract his words. However, he already knew he doesn’t have any room to back out seeing that he was trapped between a she-demon and the devil. He supposes he could just treat this as one of his experiments. He isn’t a miracle worker like his boss but he does know the basic diagnosis.

* * *

It didn’t take long for Motojirou to narrow down which sickness the girl likely has. At best, it was just a common cold but it could also be something else like croup. However, he wasn’t a licensed doctor like their boss so he couldn’t issue any medication.

He doesn’t want to be flattened nor did he want to get his head cut off if he did it wrong.

The most he could do was to let the child drink plenty of fluids for the time being. He could also suggest that they could suction the mucous out of the girl’s nose but that was another death flag for him. So, another suggestion he made was to humidify the room the baby was staying in. When asked about the fever, he mentioned that it was a natural response of the body and they should not worry unless it increases over the next few days.

As the two left his lab, Motojirou fell over his swivel chair. With warnings that if they so much hear a peep about the baby girl, he would suffer a fate far worse than anything he could think of. He had made a revelation today. It was by far the most progress he had on his search for answers to the greatest mystery of the universe.

“Death was a child – it was innocent and pure but if mistreated…”

Maybe it was time to put that thought to rest.

Or for another time.

.

.

.

He should just document his subordinate’s reactions.

Motojiro pulled on his drawer to get a piece of paper and wrote his unique observations of the previous moment, ‘Who would’ve thought a child could bring out that kind of side from one Chuuya Nakahara?’

* * *

Another day has passed and Chuuya had another dilemma.

It wasn’t that Mamiko’s condition worsened. She got better, actually, after a few hours or so. He supposed he panicked for nothing. But now, he owes the bomber a favor for it.

Anyway, this was something else.

Mori’s schedule was packed with meetings with other yakuza from other prefectures.

In short, he wasn’t here.

Kouyou got several missions piled up because she assisted him until Mamiko got better.

In other terms, she also wasn’t here.

So he had no choice.

The very few people he trusts to take care of Mamiko were not available. Sure, he knows and respects every single member’s capabilities when it comes to their skill in fighting but taking care of a baby with a power similar to his was another thing entirely. In conclusion, he has to take the just-recovered baby girl on a job.

How he survives today, he doesn’t know.

But he has to make it work.

Somehow.

The mission given to him was related to the executive meeting they had about a few days ago. An unknown group was stirring Yokohama’s underground. There wasn’t much about them to know who they are or what their goals were. According to the rumors and very little information they have from various information brokers, there was a strong Ability user among their ranks so the boss didn’t hesitate to send him out in the field.

Based on the tip from one of their information brokers, there had been a series of night-time gatherings over different abandoned warehouses in Yokohama. More often than not, they were done near the bayside. According to the particular tip, there would be one in the Isogo Ward. Whether this was done by the same group was up to debate so he was sent to investigate. In short, he only has to take a short look, observe for a bit, and then return to base.

It was easy.

Making sure Mamiko was strapped safely on the baby carrier Kouyou had gotten him along with plenty of parenting books, he sighed and looked at the recently risen crescent moon. The night was still young and it wouldn’t be a little later until the reported time of the meetings will take place. Even so, he has to make sure he got the right warehouse first. That would be a blunder on his part if he made a mistake.

As he took to the sky, glowing red, weightless, he heard the baby cackle in glee once again. He couldn’t fathom how the child loved the feeling of free fall but he supposes her own Ability made up for her own entertainment. Focusing on the task at hand, he jumps off over several buildings towards the direction of the nearest warehouse.

This process repeated for over five more times, each one not having any signs of life. It was on the eighth warehouse that he found a man discreetly opening the door to let another comrade in. He settles on a dark spot covered by the water tower of the building he was on. So far, there were no suspicious movements, sounds, or items being smuggled in. Thus, in the meantime, he had to make sure Mamiko was asleep.

With a baby bottle at hand, Mamiko was rocked in a steady beat as Chuuya looked ahead towards the warehouse that was now showing signs of activity. Since he was initially at a far spot to hear or see anything else happening within, he decided to move over to the roof and look down on one of the open window panes. What he found made him almost whistle in appreciation.

He was used to the violence as he grew up to who he is now. And the bunch or whatever group of men down there were ganging up against another person. It wasn’t anything new but he still had to gather information about this even if seems like nothing but a small scuffle. Too bad the men had blank masks on their faces so he couldn’t get any info about them.

“Stop”

He turned his attention towards the newcomer, a lean man in his mid-30s with sandy blonde hair, who he assumed to be their leader with how the rest of the men followed his orders. One of his eyebrows arched up when the man glowed brightly with the activation of an Ability. He took extra note of how the light slowly concentrated on his hand. That was definitely going to be added to his report.

“Boy,” the 30 something-year-old walked forward, “You’ve given us a lot of trouble.”

Chuuya’s eyes narrowed as he noticed the person the guys beat was just a very young boy. He had white hair and ragged clothes, all of which were stained red. With the way his arms and one of his legs were in weird angles, he could also assume that they were broken. He laid limply faced down on the floor so he couldn’t get the whole picture.

“What the fuck,” he whispered to himself, “What the heck are they trying to do?”

“All I am asking is simple,” the leader grinned as he bent down on the young boy’s level.

In his point of view, he thinks the leader is an idiot because it seemed like the child was absolutely out of it, but not dead, since earlier. As the man whispered to the kid, Chuuya also leaned in a bit more to hear his words somehow. As he inched forward, Mamiko had fallen asleep as her hands loosened their grip. Chuuya didn’t know that a simple gesture would lead to a big mistake.

_BAM_

Every single person in the room looked towards the loud sound. One of the older guy’s men took it upon himself and pick up the item that created the loud sound. Recognizing the item that he held, Chuuya's eyes widened in horror. He quickly looked at the sleeping Mamiko who had no milk bottle on her hands.

“Oh shi-”

A large booming sound was heard when the large doors of the building went down. Dust particles scattered as a figure swung a big pole at the group. With the gang of misfits distracted, Chuuya decided he had to make a run for it now. He had overstayed his welcome but the info he got was enough. As much as he wanted to clean this up, he left that job to whoever came through the front door.

He'd rather not risk Mamiko's life for another.

Arriving at the Port Mafia HQ made him sigh in relief. He cracked the locked joints on his neck and glanced at Mamiko’s serene sleeping face. He was a bit glad she somehow fell asleep with all the noise and situation they were in earlier. However, as he rode on the elevator, he felt suffocated and his hands felt all sweaty and clammy. His previous calm façade went away as he groaned at the careless mistake he made just a few hours ago.

This job might’ve ended in a disaster.

And it was he who almost committed bloody murder.

No.

He shook his face in anger. He was thinking nonsense. Even if he didn’t escape earlier, it wasn’t like he couldn’t take them all at once. He would wipe the floor with them even the unknown Ability user. He recalibrated his heart rate and heaved a final trembling sigh. Knowing that his boss won't return for another day, he just decided to write the report for this mission tomorrow. For now, he has to calm down and lay Mamiko down on her own bed.

But one thing was for sure.

He was not taking her on another job of his.

Never again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> And the plot thickens hehehe but don't worry this won't be a very heavy fic (I think). Anyways, in the next chapter, we'll be taking a break from looking into the Port Mafia and have a look at the ADA side of things _*wink*_. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos, and comments. Bookmark it and subscribe if you like this.  
> It helps a lot as motivation to put out a chapter.
> 
> CHAPTER 4: October


	4. Tides Washed Ashore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight spoilers from the BSD manga but I made sure to hide them really well, they almost looked like headcanons. So for those who don't read the manga, you could just assume some info as headcanon. If you do read, then feel free to spot which ones I'm talking about.
> 
> Anyways, Enjoy!

* * *

_As the moon rises, the sea waves become disturbed.  
What is left, when it subsides, is a mystery but also a key._

* * *

After they raided the warehouse two days ago, nothing but ordinary cases came up. Technically, that case involved a child trafficking scheme but unfortunately, there was more to it than that. Ranpo had deduced that the bombing situation a week ago and all the recent reports of missing children were done by a singular group. It seemed that the group had connections abroad and that brings about other problems as well since the Agency only works on local cases. He hasn’t specified what group it was or who else was involved and he appeared nonchalant about it saying that another detective would pick the case up. He also said that the Agency should just focus on saving any kids they could come across.

Nevertheless, it was thanks to him that they had pinpointed the location where there would be an exchange happening.

They had sent Tanizaki to scout the area earlier and he reported that the child they had was in critical condition. Therefore, their priority changed from the original plan, which was to apprehend the suspects then save the child, to saving the child first. What they didn’t expect was for the suspects to make a hasty get-away due to an Ability user.

How, convenient.

Now, it was really right up their alley.

Yosano Akiko heaved a sigh as she entered the Agency. From her position by the door, she sees Kunikida type away in that laptop of his. Over at the side, she sees Kenji drabble with crayons on a piece of paper that was probably a report Kunikida had filed before. Ranpo, on the other hand, was eyeing the bottle with a marble in it while munching on another snack on his table. Tanizaki was filing a few papers on the cabinet. The empty table was supposedly occupied by Dazai, who was probably looking for a new way to die.

Typical of him.

Seeing nothing interesting happening, she goes straight to the infirmary. She inwardly frowned when she remembered the state the boy was in. Multiple broken bones and internal bleeding on the head were bad as it is on an adult but for a kid that young, she might as well paint the city red with the blood of those scums. She had never been so horrified at healing a patient before. And she had seen her fair share of death on the battlefield ever since she was an adolescent.

She could never forget how the young boy almost looked dead on the bed.

It may have made her job easier.

But she would never wish a kid to befall such a near-death experience.

Thankfully, her Ability, Thou Shalt Not Die, had come through and saved him from such a state. It didn’t take long for the boy to wake up after a day of rest. Never had she felt so relieved to see beautiful lavender eyes stare back at her yesterday. Coaxing him to talk was another challenge. She was almost heartbroken that maybe he was already impaired if her Ability didn’t cure that for him. It was by chance that Ranpo came by the infirmary along with his bunch of snacks and the child’s stomach grumbled.

It was also by chance that they both discovered that the kid liked marshmallows enough to talk.

Tatsuki*, as he introduced himself, was a very chatty four-year-old. She had asked him about his name, age, and anything a four-year-old should know to check if there were any lingering problems. With the amount recollection the kid did about his family, it was safe to say that he had passed her test. There had been no signs of obvious lying with anything that the boy said.

Although, she was sure the white dragon thing was an exaggeration of a kid’s imagination.

When it got to the part where he was the one asking questions, they didn’t have the heart to break it to the kid that he was kidnapped and had almost gotten killed. Instead, they made up a lie that his father had left him in their care because their family would be busy. Thankfully, he bought it and even reinforced the lie with a reason why his family was busy.

_“Daddy says I have to grow up a bit more if I want to go with them, someday.”_

‘Hopefully, we get you home soon,’ Yosano smiled as she saw Haruno and Tatsuki play patty-cake by his bed.

“Yosano-san, you’re back,” the little boy greeted her after the President’s secretary said bye to him to go back to work.

“Thanks, Haruno-san. Yes, I’m back,” she said as she waved the bag of clothes, “Now let’s get you cleaned up and dressed. You want to meet the rest of the people here, right?”

“Okay!”

After helping the kid take a short shower, she showed Tatsuki the various choices of clothes she and Naomi had chosen the other day. Dressed in a white shirt with a black stripe in the middle covered by a lavender jacket, brown shorts, and black shoes, Tatsuki held Yosano’s hand as they finally exited the clinic. Seeing new people besides Yosano and Ranpo, the kid quickly hid behind Yosano.

Yosano placed a hand on his back and gently pushed him forward, “Go introduce yourself. They won’t bite.”

He looks at her for assurance making her nod at him, “I’m…Tatsuki…um…I’m four.”

Kenji, being a happy-go-lucky kid that he is, clapped in pure appreciation and introduced himself. Tanizaki and Naomi followed his lead and Ranpo just greeted the child normally like he did the first time. A bright grin is displayed on Tatsuki’s face as he begun to interact with the rest of the Agency’s members.

“Kunikida-san, aren’t you going to greet Tatsuki-kun?” Naomi asked roping the only member to remain on his seat ignoring the event occurring.

Glancing at the small boy, Kunikida pushes his glasses up and removes himself from his seat. Intimidated at the frown Kunikida was giving off, Tatsuki hid behind Yosano again. Yosano rolls her eyes and gently pushes Tatsuki back to the front as Kunikida squats down like Tanizaki. Tatsuki closes his eyes as Kunikida reaches over him with his hand.

“Good morning, Tatsuki,” he gives him a soft pat on his head and went back to work again.

“He looks scary but don’t mind him,” Ranpo grins, “He just has a stick up hi-”

“Okay, Tatsuki-kun,” Yosano interjected before Ranpo could finish his sentence, “There isn’t much you can do around here but what do you want to do?”

* * *

“THERE YOU ARE, YOU SLACKER!!!” Kunikida shouted at the yawning waste of bandages, “THINK OF THE AGENCY’S REPUTATION FOR ONCE…”

Kunikida’s tirade continues as Dazai overtly ignores him and proceeds to go to his workspace, only for him to find a white-haired child drawing on a paper on his table. Dazai immediately figures that this was the kid they had saved from that child trafficking case. The boy cocks his head slightly to the side and stares at him blankly. Dazai softly smiles in return and introduced himself.

“Hello, kiddo, I’m Dazai Osamu.”

Before the kid could say anything, Kunikida grabs him by the collar and shakes him, “ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!”

“You’re n-ot m-ma-king it ea-sier,” Dazai unsteadily said from the nodding motion his head makes as Kunikida continues to shake him up and down, “f-for m-e to s-ay oth-er w-w-ise.”

Ranpo’s, despite reading at a newspaper, mouth quivered as Tanizaki struggled to stifle his own laughter with his hands. Kenji, bless this boy, didn’t catch the witty comeback Dazai gave but still smiled all the same. What they didn’t expect was for the little kid to heartily laugh at the two struggling detectives’ dialogue.

All their attention switched to the uncontrollable ball of giggles making Kunikida cough to recover his composure and hopefully save his reputation. Soon enough the child’s laughter dies down and is now painfully aware of the stare Kunikida was giving him.

“Kunikida you’re frowning again,” Dazai winks at the child, “Don’t you know forehead wrinkles can indicate an early death? You should write that down.”

As Kunikida begins to write down Dazai’s words in his notebook, Kenji looks at Naomi and Tanizaki in question. They both shake their head since they don’t know if it was true or not. The sentence seemed legit but if it came from Dazai, there’s a fifty-fifty chance it could be either. They could ask Yosano but she was busy organizing her own work that she missed because she had to take care of Tatsuki day and night. Ranpo was a lost cause since he didn’t care about whatever it was that was happening.

“That was a lie.”

The Tanizaki siblings could only sweatdrop as Kunikida began to shake Dazai by the collar once again. Kenji, on the other hand, moves over to the side of the little boy who was quietly giggling by himself watching the other two banter with each other.

“They’re really funny, aren’t they?” Kenji asks as the Tatsuki’s attention switches to him.

“Yeah,” the little boy nods, “They remind me of daddy and my uncles.”

Innocently curious, the blonde farm boy asks, “What did they do?”

Despite looking like they didn’t care about the two youngest’s chat, Kunikida and Dazai listened in to their conversation, particularly the white-haired boy’s answer. Ranpo also showed no signs of movement but strained his ears to do so from behind the newspaper.

“Gamma-san likes chasing daddy around the house because he keeps on playing with me and Yuni-nee instead of paperwork,” Tatsuki happily recounts, “…Daddy often wins because he’s really fast but sometimes I think he gets caught on purpose just to tease Gamma-san more.”

Kenji gave a hum of appreciation and encouraged the boy to tell more stories. Tanizaki, on the other hand, tried his best to keep it all in while also trying not to die from asphyxiation on the floor. Ranpo only smirked behind the newspaper. Ignoring the fact that the albino kid may have summarized the relationship between him and his partner, Kunikida straightened up and fixed his glasses.

“We are going to have a talk,” Kunikida stoically whispered as he subtly glanced at the little boy whose attention was on Kenji.

Dazai shrugs at him as Kunikida dragged him to the storage area, “Do I even have a choice?”

As soon as the door closes, Kunikida said, “The kid’s lying,”

“How could you, Kunikida-kun,” Dazai dramatically gasped, “Accusing a child of lying?”

“Stop doing that. I’m serious,” the Doppo Poet user sighed as he no longer paid attention to his partner’s antics, “Our information broker had just sent us anything he could find on the kid and that account the kid gave earlier doesn’t match up with it.”

Dropping his act, the bandaged man looked at Kunikida with his eyebrow raised.

The dirty blond sighed and said, “He’s an orphan and has been for a long while.”

Dazai’s eye squints as he asks, “Are we sure that he’s the same exact child? Maybe a doppelganger? A twin?”

“Same name, same looks even down to the purple scar under his left eye, even blood type. He doesn’t have a twin, either,” Kunikida listed down, “No one could clone- Do you think it could…”

“With an Ability? Maybe,” Dazai said facing the shelves, looking at the blinking lights of devices, “Replicating a person or implanting imaginary memories isn’t so farfetched if an Ability user is added in the equation.”

“Tch,” Kunikida frowned.

“I’ll work it out. If my Ability cancels it, then good. Problem solved,” the No Longer Human user nonchalantly said as he moves towards the door.

“And if it doesn’t?”

Grabbing the doorknob, Dazai looks back at him with a smirk, “Then the root of this case runs deeper than we think.”

* * *

“Yosano-san, I know it’s hard,” Kunikida tried to convince the doctor and himself, “Even I have to accept the fact that I’ll be doing his share of paperwork in exchange for this.”

“No, I understand it very well but,” giving a side glance to the topic of their conversation, Yosano sighed, “Does it really have to be him?”

“If the child is under the control of an Ability,” pushing the glasses up on his face, the stern detective reasoned, “then he’s our best – no – only bet.”

The medic and the idealist fell into silence as they both watched the suicidal maniac read that blasphemous red manual of his. In another time, both of them would turn a blind eye at their co-worker’s obvious preference on a way to go but at least, for this time, it made both of them hesitant to leave a child, a very impressionable one at that, in his care. Despite the child’s questionable origins and profile, the two weren’t that heartless to give him away to someone who was always on a lookout for ways to die on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, said colleague’s Ability was their only means to get the child to his rightful home.

“Fine.”

“Thank you, Yosano-san.” Kunikida gratefully bowed which the older woman waved off.

“But the moment I find that Tatsuki learned something unspeakable from him,” she warned as before closing the door to the infirmary, “I’ll personally give him what he wants the most.”

Understanding the obvious underlying message, thoughts about telling the suicidal man of it crossed Kunikida’s mind only for the safety of them all. Once again with a push of his glasses, the green-eyed detective turned his attention to the group of younger, in body, mind, and soul, men at the reception area. Observing from the distance, he raised an eyebrow at the chit chat between the youngest detective and the currently youngest person in the Agency.

Kenji was, by far, proving to be a very good companion and effective interrogator by the second.

With a curious look on his face, the blond teen asked, “What are you drawing now?”

“…the symbol of my family,” Tatsuki absent-mindedly answered as he continues to draw.

“That looks really pretty,” Naomi smiled at the neat picture the drawing was turning into, “We should post it somewhere.”

“How about the empty wall beside the door?” her brother suggested as Kunikida officially entered the reception area.

“Give it to me. I’ll post it so it won’t look out of place,” the dirty blond detective subtly glanced at Dazai as he grabbed the artwork with one brow up.

Understanding the message, Dazai skillfully entered the conversation with a tease, “Aww, that’s nice of you, Kunikida-kun.”

The dirty blond muttered something incoherent under his breath as he looked for the spot Tanizaki was possibly referring to. The younger detectives and one child paid him no mind as the three teens alternatively suggested objects or child-friendly themes for the little boy to draw. Dazai, on the other hand, kept the book he was reading and waited for a chance to get on with his plan.

Growing bored with only paper, pens, and crayons, Tatsuki stated, “I don’t wanna draw anymore.”

“How about I take you outside? Get your legs stretched?” Dazai suggested as he got up from the couch.

Lavender eyes brightening, Tatsuki looked at him with such adoration, “Can we? Can we?”

Ignoring the doubtful looks the other three gave him, Dazai chirped, “Sure, kiddo.”

“Can Yosano-san come too?” the albino child asked in high hopes.

“She’s still busy, kid,” the bandaged man answered, “But she looks forward to hearing about your day later.”

“…okay,” the little boy slightly sulked but asked, “…when will we go?”

“We can go now if you want to,” Dazai amiably smiled making the child nod and jump off from his seat.

“Bring back the child in one piece, would you?” Kunikida, now writing the word tape on his notebook, hissed as Dazai passed the door.

“Have you no trust?” with a blasé wave of the hand, Dazai shamelessly professed, “I always put my life on the line for this job.”

* * *

It was early in the afternoon and there wasn’t any traffic yet in the streets. For the most part, the child didn’t particularly feel talkative around him yet so Dazai, through many experiences of deceiving others, had to openly act friendly and giddy. It wasn’t too hard as it was his normal façade so it didn’t take long for the child to fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

Although he doesn’t normally do it, he let the child hold on to his hand all throughout their walk. Knowing that the effects of the Ability, if there were any, were officially canceled out, Dazai had asked the kid for any places he wanted to see. Based on the child’s very vague answer, the adult detective was sure that the boy wasn’t a local. In accordance with his plan, he decides to indulge the child’s wishes and they went to plenty of the scattered parks or gardens and observation decks near the area because the boy liked flowers and high places.

Conveniently, those places were among the top ten places where people went for suicides.

Dazai had never felt so gleeful.

“You smile funny like daddy,” the white-haired kid commented as they walked hand in hand on the street.

Sensing an opportunity to open a good topic, the bandaged man humored the boy, “Really?”

Tatsuki happily nods, “Yeah, especially when something casto..catos-”

“Catastrophic?” the older man guessed.

“Yeah, that,” Tatsuki nods appreciatively, “Something catastrophic happens whenever daddy smiles like you do.”

“Like what?” Dazai casually asked, “Can you tell me more about your father?”

Like magic words, the child began to spill endless random stories of his very young life with his father and family. He loudly talked about the good things his father does, the fun ideas his father tells him, and everything else in between. He also mentioned several names of people and locations that Dazai was sure more than half of them weren’t Japanese. If he wasn’t Dazai, he’d have trouble filtering each ecstatic narrative to only what he needed to know. In short, the child was most likely telling the truth all along and there was no mind-altering Ability involved at all.

There was still something off with this, he couldn’t quite pinpoint yet.

“…so I wanna be exactly like daddy when I grow up,” Tatsuki finished as he took a bite of the recently brought crepe filled with fruity marshmallows.

Pocketing Kunikida’s wallet, Dazai still continued to act interested, “But?”

“…but he says not to,” the white-haired boy feebly responds.

Reacting almost mechanically, the foolhardy man probed, “Why do you think so?”

“I dunno,” the child pouted in mild confusion, “Yuni-nee says it’s because daddy became greedy before and because of that lots people fought with each other.”

Stumbling upon a very unexpected, but not unwelcome, subject matter, Dazai decides to follow through, “Go on.”

“She says that it was a very scary war that involved the whole Japan,” Tatsuki said before running off to sit at the nearest bench they found.

‘If we’re going by his age, there was no big war four to five years ago. And even if I could count the one where I was involved in, it wouldn’t make sense because it was only confined to Yokohama not all of Japan,’ Dazai thought as he took his time to reach the same bench, 'The one that occurred ten years ago was big but it involved the whole world...this one seemed like a civil war rather than a world war...'

There were only two reasons Dazai could think of that would make all the things Tatsuki said to be true. One, Tatsuki’s caretakers lied or exaggerated those stories to him to set an example of the things he shouldn’t do which, for Dazai, was ironic on its own. Two, Tatsuki was from another dimension or universe which, for Dazai, was quite a long stretch.

The former would be more plausible because it was a very common thing for parents or adults to lie to get their children out of their case. But then, it wouldn’t make sense either because they would have to also hide the fact there was a war where people died which the child had stated as if it was normal. The latter looks unbelievable but it wasn’t impossible because there was still a possibility that an Ability user could do it. However, it bothered him why would such an Ability not be heard off even if in whispers in the Port Mafia or the Underground, in general.

‘Would it be safe to say that even those colorful fire he talked about are specific or are the substitute for the Abilities from wherever he came from?’ the bandaged man took a bite from his own crepe as he sat down next to the little boy, ‘Maybe next time I should inquire about that.’

Filing the information in his head for later, Dazai decides to address another point of this conversation, “Knowing that, why do still want to be like your father? He’s done a lot of bad things, right?”

If anything, the kid’s father does sound like a troublesome opponent. And if the child didn’t overly exaggerate any of his stories about his father, then he wants to meet him. This little kid had already made good points of the similarity between them especially with the way they think - they way they often purposefully leave out information and keep the actual plan to themselves. The two of them could exchange notes, plans, and ideas. Even if wasn’t explicitly said, the other man seemed to have tried to conquer something and almost succeeded.

It would be nice to talk to someone on the same level as he was.

And he wanted in on some strategies for future reference.

Then again, he had changed – continues to change – for the better. The words Odasaku strung together on his last day made him reform his beliefs in some way. The little kid fits the bill as an ‘orphan’ as far as the broker’s information goes and what he learned today. If the boy’s ‘father’ was anything like him, then all the more should Tatsuki stay far from both of them. 

‘Be on the side that saves people, huh?’ lips tilted in melancholy, Dazai cringed at the sudden shout.

“No, he’s not,” Tatsuki angrily pouts at him, “Daddy’s good now.”

“Okay, okay, no need to be angry,” Dazai tries to placate the frowning child, “I just thought…he’d be a bad role model for you.”

Childishly grumbling to himself, Tatsuki turned away from him and angrily bit on the crepe. The former mafia executive could only inwardly sigh at how easy it was for a kid to manipulate adults into saying or getting what they want. Dazai wasn’t going to be swayed by this, however. For whatever remaining survivor’s guilt he had buried in the deepest depths of his flawed heart, he would want at least one child to be saved by him.

That was what Odasaku would’ve done.

“A few months of good doesn't make up for over a decade of being horrid,” the bandaged man began as he coaxed the child to look at him, “No matter how much that person wants to change.”

“But Yuni-nee and Tsuna-san help daddy make up for it now,” the little boy cutely insisted, “If people don’t want to see the good he’s done, then they’re bad.”

Sometime, in the near future, those words would’ve been a good argument towards the beliefs of certain people, enough for them to rethink their ideas and values - the morality they think they were fighting for. Whether it would be remembered, an action pertaining to it would be done, or how it would be wielded to crack another's belief perseverance, that would fall in the hands of the other man who heard it.

But for now, it served as an assurance that his swapping sides wasn’t all for naught.

_It doesn't matter what you are then but rather on what you make use of the 'now'._

Dazai could only rub Tatsuki’s hair in good fun as to hide a pensive smile that bloomed on his face.

“Don’t change kid, don’t change.”

Everything was a work in progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information:  
> *Tatsuki is written as 龍月. "龍" is dragon. "月" is moon.
> 
> A/N:  
> Look forward to the next chapter, we'll be taking a trip around Yokohama.
> 
> CHAPTER 5: November


	5. to Sea the Land in the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the first half of the chapter with [Dwell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NemldjT9IZg) by Tony Anderson so if you could, play it in the bg. It would set the ambiance because the music felt sea-like to me.  
> This might be another boring chapter for others but this focuses more on expanding Tatsuki's background (just a bit and not enough to give everything away).
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

_For now, there is balance.  
However, even as the forces lay dormant, the gears are still set in motion._

* * *

_“Can I go to see the fishes, please?”_

_Yosano and the other members of the Agency had only taken their eyes off of the kid for one second. The kid was busy drawing some kind of fish on a piece of paper because Kenji told him about a story in their village about a man who caught the biggest fish their village has ever seen. They didn’t expect the kid to run off to the President’s office to show off the drawing and actually asking to go see one._

_They already expected the President to decline the kid because the suspects who kidnapped him weren’t still found and brought to jail. It was a surprise that he did relent to the little boy’s whims and produced passes to[Hakkeijima Sea Paradise](http://www.seaparadise.co.jp/en/). It was only thanks to their professionalism that they didn’t question it and decided on the spot on who would go._

Yosano innately sighed for the nth time as Tatsuki happily hummed and went back to the area where the various seals were. She doesn’t know how single parents had enough patience and energy to deal with extremely active children. But what she does know is that this was a job for at least two people. She resisted the urge to go find her other officemate and personally send him to hell.

And to think she had hopes that Dazai had some semblance of responsibility based on his behavior earlier.

_“You know, I thought you wouldn’t even show up…much less on time at that,” Yosano said as they got off the taxi and climbed up to the bridge._

_“The Agency paid for everything today,” Dazai gave a nonchalant shrug and said, “Besides, I won’t waste this perfect opportunity to find a good spot for suicide. Don’t you know people rarely die in amusement parks despite the sheer amount of danger it actually possesses?”_

But, that was just wishful thinking.

Truthfully, the moment they stepped on the island, Dazai had seemingly vanished off to who knows where. She had to distract Tatsuki from asking where the other man went. As she had already snatched a brochure of the island by the information center earlier so she only had to show the little boy where they would be going.

According to the brochure, the Aqua Museum had 5 floors that contained an assortment of several species of aquatic animals. They were currently still on the first floor because the boy had taken a liking to the seals. And by some miracle, the kid didn’t notice one bit how she wasn’t as enthusiastic as he was. Seeing how the young boy’s eyes were wide open and full of wonder, Yosano decides that perhaps it was worth it.

She liked him better with eyes full of life rather than what he had been days ago.

“Tatsuki,” she calls out to him, “There are more sea animals upstairs. Let’s go?”

“Okay,” he smiles in return as he held the hand that was outstretched to him.

Yosano guides him towards the escalator which had aquariums overhead. She never had the time to go visit any amusement parks or aquariums but she could at least appreciate the effort done to create this aquatic tube they passed through. And since it was currently April, spring season, the whole aquarium’s lighting was colored soft pink. Yosano softly smiles at how Tatsuki was visibly awed by the two sharks that swam near the glass.

Once they reached the next floor, she lets Tatsuki drag her to wherever he wanted to go. There weren’t many people visiting since it was a workday so Yosano wasn’t afraid of the kid being separated from her. Walking a few steps behind the boy, she takes her time to actually take in what she sees. Dazai was an idiot but she supposes she could take a page out of his book and not waste this free trip.

“The sea knows no bounds~” the boy sang before he pressed his face on the glass.

She almost felt bad that they had ulterior motives for this.

_As Haruno helped the kid dress in another room, the President reminded them, Yosano and Dazai, about the point of this trip. Based on Dazai’s report on the kid’s state and everything else he deemed important for the Agency to know, the multicolored fire was the missing link to this whole case. Yosano tried to pass it off as part of a child’s imagination but Dazai proved to believe otherwise._

_“Tatsuki said it himself,” the suicidal man said, “He has orange fire like his father. If that doesn’t indicate that he could produce them...”_

‘Therefore, they’d have to get the child to show fire by the end of this trip,’ Yosano inwardly sighed.

Stopping at the area where a bright red octopus was, she posed a question, “Do you like the sea so much, Tatsuki?”

Tatsuki turns to her and nods, “Yeah, because I hear the voices from the sea….”

Yosano smiled, amused, ‘Good to know he still has wonder in his head.’

“So what do they say?” she indulges him with his playful thinking.

“A lot of stuff,” he says as he skips to the next exhibit, “Daddy says it’s the miracle of the family; that we can hear the whispers of elsewhere, to see beyond the surface and into gateways of worlds no one else could see, and learn about them.”

At this point, Yosano isn’t sure what to think. The implications of Tatsuki’s previous statement was disconcerting to the point where she didn’t know whether she should take it with a grain of salt or not. As a doctor, she was already dead set on treating the child as a child. However, for just a second, she saw incredibly wise eyes, the kind you would see from veteran soldiers who had seen unspeakable things but understood what it meant – a stark contrast to what Tatsuki physically is.

It was eerie.

She watches the white-haired child run to the area where a shark just swam by. As she thought that the previous conversation was over and done with, the little boy absentmindedly continues.

“Daddy tells me I’m too young to go delve in it but…sometimes I just feel and hear them calling,” Tatsuki said as he fogged up the glass while watching the crabs.

The lady doctor considered that maybe the boy and his family were fish whisperers or something. It wasn’t entirely impossible as there are people, with no Ability nonetheless, that have a deeper connection with nature or whatnot. So perhaps, what he said isn’t really farfetched and it’s almost endearing, really.

She hopes she was right.

Else, the alternative would be unpleasant.

She shakes her out of it as she follows Tatsuki to the next area where jellyfishes were grouped together, “Aren’t you scared of it? The sea, I mean…”

Tatsuki shakes his head as he turned to her, “Daddy said that I shouldn’t fear the sea but listen to it because it can only tell me tales that would benefit me in the future.”

“But,” the little boy sighs, “Daddy warns me not to trust it too much.”

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden quietness of the boy, Yosano prompts him, “Why?”

The little boy looks at his feet before answering her, “Because he doesn’t want me to make the same mistake he did...”

Yosano feels guilty for asking the question and making the little boy look sad. She sighs as she kneels to the level of the boy and rubs the knot that formed in his forehead, “You don’t have to worry your pretty little head over it. I’m sure he only wants the best for you because he loves you.”

‘And it’s too early for you to know about the stupidity that is the adult life,’ she adds in her head.

The little boy pouts and said, “…that’s what Yuni-nee says too.”

Yosano smiles and diverts their chat elsewhere, “Now, come on, we don’t wanna be late to see the dolphins and seals play tricks, right?”

A bright and enthusiastic smile blooms on the child’s face as he excitedly pulls Yosano up to move further in the aquariums. She wasn’t aiming to get something out of that conversation but she was glad that the child didn’t linger on the thought too much. If anything, aside from the weird sense of water-related-belongingness of the family, she confirmed that the father’s ideas or words would be their key to make the child trust them a lot. As much as she doesn’t want to deceive the child, she would have to make sure to remember well what buttons they would push for the child to show them his ‘powers’.

At some point, Yosano brings Tatsuki to the 4th floor where a stadium for watching aquatic animals do some tricks for the audience. They were currently seated at the lowest level and nearest area to the stage because they arrived early. The marine mammals' show was currently ongoing and Tatsuki was enamored with the tricks the sea animals were doing. While her charge was distracted by the show, Yosano takes this time to close her eyes and internalize the information she heard earlier.

“Ah, Dazai-san,” the boy suddenly remembered making Yosano sigh.

“Don’t you worry about him,” eyes still closed, she said, “I’m sure he’s having the time of his life.”

“He sure does,” Tatsuki said as he tugged her sleeves, “Do you think they would let me ride the dolphins too?”

Not understanding what the little boy meant, Yosano finally opened her eyes just in time to see Dazai fly in the air along with the dolphin then getting dragged through the water after. She remained relatively calm seeing whatever she was currently seeing because she had expected something like this at some point on this trip. However, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t irked with the current events. She was just better at keeping her cool and repressing all that irritation deep deep down.

Hearing Tatsuki and the rest of the audience laugh didn’t do anything to soothe her nerves one bit. Seeing the panicked trainers, she thought of how she would have to apologize and compensate them for all the trouble.

Great, she was turning into Kunikida.

“That idiot,” she whispered to herself as she stood from her seat to talk to the trainers involved in the show.

After getting Dazai out of the pool, expressing her deepest apologies, and directing the extra expenses they accumulated with the traumatized dolphins and broken rollercoaster to the Agency’s address and number, she and her companions escorted themselves out of the island. Yosano was fed up with Dazai’s antics so she ignored him the rest of the ride back and ultimately focused on explaining to Tatsuki why they had to leave early.

“We have to arrive in Chinatown early because a lot of people go there and it would be hard to find a good place to eat,” she said as the little boy looked glum in his seat.

“Then we go home?” he sadly said, “I don’t wanna go back yet.”

Quickly thinking of a solution, Yosano said, “No, not yet at least. We can still go to another amusement park.”

“Really?” Tatsuki happily looked at her as Dazai’s eye twinkled in mischief.

“Yes, do you see that big Ferris wheel there?” she pointed out in the window, “We can go ride that later.”

“Wooaahh,” the little boy said awed.

“Now go take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we reach our destination,” the lady doctor advised him to which he followed and laid down, his head on Yosano’s lap and his feet over Dazai’s.

With the young boy quickly falling asleep, the taxi fell into silence. Yosano leans on the window and watched buildings pass by. Noticing how Dazai had a scheming grin from his slight reflection on the window, Yosano once again suppressed her impulse to reach for the ax in her bag and personally chop the man to pieces.

“Don’t get any ideas, Dazai,” she said to him as she patted Tatsuki’s white hair to calm herself down.

* * *

“Rintaro, why did we have to bring _that_ along?” a little blond girl looked at the stroller and the man pushing it with displeasure.

“Ah, are you jealous, Elise-chan?” Mori cooed at both girls, “Don’t worry. Mami-chan will only be with us for the day.”

“Hmph, who said about being jealous?” Elise pursed her lips and walked ahead of the two.

The former military doctor softly giggled as he followed behind the manifestation of his Ability, “She’s quite spoiled but I think the two of you would be great friends, one day.”

Elise’s being upset, the occasional dust particles from the Yokohama streets, nor the scorching sun wasn’t even enough to rain down on Mori’s parade. And to think he only planned to take Elise out on a short walk in the afternoon, as promised, but alas wonders do come every once in a while. His day started out alright – dressing Elise in the morning, eating breakfast with Elise, checking files while watching Elise draw on a piece of paper, and the likes – that is, until Kouyou knocked on his office door dragging an adamant-looking Chuuya carrying the newest apple of his eye.

_“Well, what brings you to this humble office of mine,” Mori put his pen down and smiled at his two executives._

_“Ane-san-”_

_“Chuuya, it’ll only be for one day. It isn’t even a full 24 hours,” Kouyou sternly looked at the younger man with a gaze that clearly looked like they have been having this conversation for hours, “Stop acting like a mother who has separation anxiety.”_

_Like a deer caught in headlights, Chuuya shut his mouth as Kouyou amiably smiled at their boss, “Based on that, I think you already know why we’re here, Mori.”_

_Chuckling to himself, Mori stood from his seat and planted himself in front of Chuuya, “No, I don’t think so. I’d rather…want to hear what this is about, first hand.”_

Mori didn’t mean to poke fun at the younger man but it was getting harder to not take him seriously especially with a baby in his arms. Thanks to his own survival instinct, which served him well to live this long in their profession, and the fact that Chuuya looked like he was mere seconds away from bringing the whole building down if he continued, Mori was able to control himself and listen. It turned out that Chuuya has to attend a meeting on a wine company the Port Mafia uses as a front and no one could take care of Mamiko since even Kouyou had other matters to settle elsewhere as well.

It wasn’t that he, as a boss, was also busy but this was something he couldn’t pass up on.

Instead of listening to Chuuya surprisingly implore to make him sit this meeting out, Mori decidedly told him that he would take care of the baby girl for the day. Mori struggled not to laugh at how Chuuya’s face morphed from anger to horror then to worry. Eventually, Chuuya relented on Kouyou’s fierce reminder of when Mamiko got sick. It was a low blow but Mori supposes this conversation had taken far too long for Kouyou’s nerves and their punctuality to certain engagements would be questioned if this didn’t move along.

After so many reminders, worrying camouflaged as warnings, and underlying threats hidden in between, Chuuya and Kouyou left. Little Mamiko cried for a short while when she realized that her caretaker wasn’t going to come back any sooner. It didn’t take much energy for Mori to pacify and soothe the baby into laughter. And that laughter was the last straw for Mori to clear his day’s schedule and get out of the office.

It has been a good 6 hours since then and Mori was still milking this day for all its worth. So far, the three of them had visited several children’s clothing stores much to Elise’s distaste. Despite Elise’s less than stellar mood towards dress shopping and slight animosity towards Mamiko, Mori supposes it was only a small price to pay.

Besides, there was nothing better than buying clothes for two little girls.

After much insisting and nagging, Mori relents to Elise’s wants and they visited Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse for that new pastry café he’d heard of. As Elise was old enough to read and buy herself the kind of delicacy she wants, Mori fussed over what he should pick for Mamiko to eat. The three of them, Chuuya, Kouyou, and him, never discovered what the little girl’s official age was.

Chuuya wasn’t having any of it when Mori suggested testing her blood.

It was already hard enough for him and Kouyou to convince that Mamiko needed to be vaccinated.

_“DON’T YOU DARE POKE THAT THING ON HER”_

_“Chuuya, it is for Mami-chan’s own good.”_

_“WHAT GOOD IS IT FOR HER TO FEEL PAIN?!”_

_“Chuuya-kun, you also had to go through this when you were a kid. What makes this so different?”_

Mori inwardly laughed at the memory.

Since needles, aside from getting shots, were a big no for the mother-henning Chuuya, Mori had to rely on his own knowledge of babies. Physically, Mamiko already could sit upright on her own, her fine motor skills are very well developed, and she pays attention to people speaking then responds accordingly. Teeth wise, according to Chuuya, he already saw both upper and lower front teeth on her.

Mori had guessed it was during the time when Chuuya went on his own to buy most of the bottles and toys before going back to the Port Mafia.

There was a sudden big purchase on Chuuya’s black card.

Of course, he had to know why.

Anyway, if he were to simply base it on that, she may be at least 6 to 8 months. Therefore, finger foods are already allowed. After ordering and eating several pastries, 2 slices of cake and a parfait for Elise, and fruit puree and a handful of soft chocolate cookies for Mamiko and him, they decided to walk it off through Akarenga Park towards Marina & Walk Yokohama where Mori’s urge to buy more clothing intensified again. 

“Elise-chan, how about this purple one? I think it will bring out the color of your eyes more,” the older man said as he picked up a purple dress with plenty of ruffles.

Without even looking at her companion, the blond girl said, “No, I don’t want that.”

“Then maybe thi-”

“I said NO,” Elise pouts as she points out at the distance, “Rintaro, I want to go ride that.”

Defeated by Elise’s stubbornness after their one-sided banter, Mori ended up only paying for 5 pieces of dresses, one for Elise and the rest for Mamiko. Calling for their car that had been following them at a distance, the mafia boss deposited all their shopping bags and walked the rest of the way to Yokohama’s famed Ferris wheel.

The sun had begun to set and Mori thinks it was timely enough to see it off ground. His office didn’t really offer the best view for any sun-rise or -set. Gesturing Elise to stay with Mamiko away from most of the crowd, Mori goes to buy tickets for the three of them. After a short wait, the three quickly shuffled off towards the direction of the big wheel. With the crowd getting thicker with students, families, and couples, they couldn’t help but bump into several people along the way.

“Step right up and get your prize, if you can hit the target right in the middle.”

“I don’t really think-”

“Oh, come on. The diving coaster’s fun, I tell you.”

“Really…the moment I take my eyes off those two…Tatsuki!! Where are you?”

“Thank you for this trip. You’re the best.”

Getting on the cabin, Elise excitedly pressed her face on the glass as they slowly ascended. Knowing that Elise was well-accounted for by her own amusement, Mori decides to put all his attention to Mamiko. Picking her up from her stroller, Mori carefully steered the baby to also face the glass, like Elise. Mori smiles as the baby girl babbles up a storm as if communicating what she was seeing to him.

Who was he to dissuade such a cute act?

Just a few meters in the air, Mori observes a figure that seemed familiar to him down on the ground. She may have grown older but Mori knows that kind of gait anywhere at any time. It seemed that the lady was frantically looking for someone and Mori could not put his finger on who it was. As the same figure grew smaller and their cabin rose higher, a bright light caught his attention. At first, he thought it might’ve been the setting sun’s light hitting the reflective walls or windows from the surrounding buildings.

However, it only glowed brighter and felt more dangerous.

Covering Mamiko’s eyes in case the light proved to be damaging, Mori asked for Elise’s help to pinpoint where it was coming from. It didn’t take long for the manifestation of his Ability to track it down towards one of the cabins ahead of them. The flare died down abruptly by the time their own cabin began its descent. He wasn’t sure what it was, since they were still up high, but the people on that same cabin met up with his former protégé – Yosano.

Mori could only curiously look from afar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> If you guys have any questions, write them down in the comments below. The big reveal (lol some of you probably guessed who) is near and it's actually a big information dump. I hope it comes out well for all of you to understand how Mamiko and Tatsuki fit into all of this.
> 
> See you soon :) 
> 
> CHAPTER 6: December


	6. Shedding Light upon Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **KHR Timeline** : 10/11 Years After the Manga ends  
> The KHR characters are mostly 24-26 years old here.
> 
> Don't worry about not knowing too much about any of them cuz most of these are made up while keeping the KHR manga canon in mind. I wrote what you needed to know and implied what they are. I also took the liberty to expand more of Byakuran and Enma because they RARELY get the spotlight on most, if not all, crossover fics. Enma also being a controller of gravity was an added bonus. And I haven't seen any fics regarding Enma and Chuuya so yeah. Also, all KHR characters here are more 'mature' (lol) since they have grown into their roles in the mafia society. I mean you'll still see their younger selves' personality but since the situation is **serious** , then they react accordingly to the weight of the situation.
> 
> Congratulations to [Baka_Luna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baka_Luna/pseuds/Baka_Luna), [brenda1810018](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brenda1810018/pseuds/brenda1810018), [Catniss07](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/12263931/Catniss07) cuz they figured it out so many chapters ago.
> 
> Without further ado, I present to you infodump chapter 6.

* * *

_Some truths come to light and laid bare in all clarity.  
It doesn’t mean they make everyone happy._

* * *

The sea knows no bounds.

What happens to one is sensed by all.

This was the kind of power that rests within him - the power to look into parallel worlds.

This was the reason why he knows so much information about his parallel selves and others’ as well. He had seen stranger versions of himself that were not quite similar appearance-wise. He had seen thousands upon thousands of variant selves gaining control over the Tri-ni-Sette using thousands of various battle plans and strategies. There had been multiple forms of himself out in the multiverse who had fallen deep into megalomania. Despite not thinking about it then, he knew that would be the same for this particular parallel world he was in.

That is until he received the memories of his future self from the ‘now’ obsolete future it came from.

With that knowledge in mind, he ultimately changed the course of his own life. He no longer wished for world domination nor wished to harness the power of the Tri-ni-Sette for himself. Instead, he sought understanding, more of it, of the power he holds along with his best friend, Shouichi, and fellow Great Skies, Yuni and Tsunayoshi.

He still built his famiglia, of course. 

It was only natural that his own elements found themselves a home.

It naturally caused an uproar among the Vongola and its close associates. It amused him for a little while. Even so, the greatest cause of his mirth was the commotion and perturbation of the creation of the Millefiore famiglia made in the whole mafia community. The merging of his Gesso and Yuni's Giglio Nero had been planned back when they were barely adults. It was the general consensus of him, Yuni, and Tsunayoshi - the three Great Skies. They had expected and calculated the backlash of the amalgamation along with the dubious and sudden rise and growth of the Gesso and Shimon famiglias.

Obviously, most, if not all, of the old mafia blood wasn’t having any of it.

This new movement of the next generation was giving them the fear of being overthrown.

The outright disrespect of established mafia tradition revolted them.

To them, it was blashphemy.

The prejudice was strong, even now. More often than not, he and his famiglia would feel alienated in most mafia parties with all the staring and whispering the old famiglias would do. Even within the Vongola Alliance itself, he would feel every person’s, at least those who received memories from their respective future selves, contempt, and reluctance to be on speaking terms with him whenever he’s in the room. Despite coming to an agreement, there still exists distrust, as seen from the obvious ‘on guard’ stances each of Tsunayoshi’s guardians, whenever he visits their boss.

_“Your guardians have very stiff funny faces. Don’t they tire of it?”_

_“Well, if you would stop making that scheming face of yours every time you speak to me, maybe they would stop.”_

_“But I was born with this face, Tsu-chan...besides it's entertaining to see them tick and be stressed.”_

_“...only you, Byakuran...only you.”_

It didn’t matter to him really. It was the ‘sea’ in him - a natural part of all parallel versions of himself - to be unrestrained, unexpected. At least, unlike those other selves, he was able to tone down the lengths he would take for the fruition of all the ‘harmless’ fun he wants to have. There wasn't as much danger to his pranks he'd randomly pull. Now, it was simply akin to a child diagnosed with ADHD - he can't completely stop it but he was willing to redirect and lessen it to a certain scale that would not be detrimental to his being and health.

Speaking of children, by the time he realized it, his spontaneity led him to the decision of never having one.

Initially, he attributed that conclusion to the fact that he didn’t have time and energy to expend in finding a wife, who would _love_ to be involved or keep a blind eye towards his ‘questionable’ activities in the mafia, and taking care of a baby, who would probably be equally or even more impulsive than himself. Eventually, as years passed and he’d stepped into adulthood, he came into an understanding that his decision to never reproduce was connected to the very core of his hideous personality. Like his fellow Great Skies, he wished none of the responsibility to uphold the power - the Mare ring’s miracle of space travel - entrusted to him fall onto a child of his own blood.

But just like the sea, there was no impossibility

Someone had gone ahead and done it for him

What the sea tide brought unto the shore on a whim

Was a baby boy known to be Tatsuki

* * *

Jovially opening the infirmary door, Byakuran unhesitatingly greeted his son as if the child hasn’t been in a comatose state for a day. Panic receding from plain sight, he settled into his regular facade of being the cheerful and lively father. Nonetheless, he didn’t expect Tatsuki to burst into tears and continuously apologize to him. His son’s explanation was in a garbled mess of slurred words and sniffs that he only caught ‘Ferris wheel’ and ‘Dazai-san’. Eventually, the Gesso’s boss had coaxed his son to stop crying and calm down.

Rubbing the young boy’s head gently, Byakuran reasoned, “I’m pretty sure whatever you did doesn’t amount to all the mischief I did before...in other worlds...”

“Correction,” the red-haired boss of the Shimon, who was by the infirmary door said, “You still do.”

“Enma-kun,” the white-haired man greeted sharply, “so nice of you to finally catch up.”

The redhead shot the older Gesso a strained smile before amiably greeting the younger, “Hello, Tatsuki-kun. How are you feeling?”

Sniffing but no longer teary-eyed, Tatsuki replied, “Cold...and a bit s-scared...my head hurts too…”

“I really don’t want to ask yet but,” Enma started as he eyed Byakuran’s frown, “what happened?”

The small child averted his gaze from them as he bit his lips tight. It was a clear sign of not wanting to talk but the two bosses were desperate for answers. Although, for two different reasons, the two agreed to persuade the boy to respond to their query.

“Areth*,” Byakuran gently hugged the boy, “I won’t get angry. Promise.”

“We just want to know what happened,” Enma said almost pleadingly.

Looking at both of the adults’ expectant faces, the white-haired boy looked down on the sheets and whispered, “I...I used my Flames, daddy...e-even when you told me not to…b-because they were unstable…”

‘At the very least, he had conscience unlike me,’ Byakuran’s lips twitched, “And why did you do it?”

“Because,” Tatsuki squirmed uncomfortably on the bed, “I want to learn to control them...that’s why you sent me to the Agency, right, daddy? That’s what Dazai-san said.”

Hearing an unfamiliar name, Enma reflexively asked, “Who’s this…Dazai-san?”

“Daddy asked him and the Agency to take care of me while he was away with our famiglia doing business,” Tatsuki replied, making the two bosses frown.

Byakuran silently signaled to Enma that there was no one of the sorts. Even without that signal, Enma knew there was no way Byakuran would send his son away nor leave his son to anyone else outside his own famiglia, except for a handful of people. Even then, Byakuran wouldn’t leave Tatsuki by himself in his own house. The number of times he tried to leave his paperwork undone equaled that of Tsuna's. And Tsuna was notorious for _always_ trying to escape paperwork.

According to Hayato and Kikyo, they were already at seven figures by last week.

“He said he was going to help me control my Flames,” the small boy’s brows knitted as he yawned onto his father’s torso, “He said he has the ability to shut off mine when I can’t control it anymore.”

* * *

“I wish I could really help you more,” Tsuna said as he hushes a softly crying baby, “but as you can see, my hands are also tied.”

“I understand Tsuna-kun,” Enma replied to the brown-haired Vongola boss on the other side of the screen, “extra duties whenever our wives want time for themselves.”

Smiling sadly at his friend, Tsuna assured, “Have faith, Enma-kun. You’ll find her safe and sound.”

“I hope that’s your intuition talking,” Enma smiles at the emotional support his best friend gave him.

“Ah, Tsu-chan,” Byakuran said as he entered the meeting room, “feeling the joys of parenthood, I see…”

“Good eveni-er morning to you too, Byakuran,” the Vongola boss rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the other boss, “Shouichi and Spanner just left with the Mare Sky ring. They took the copter so they’ll arrive in an hour or so.”

A rare genuine smile blooms on the Gesso boss, “Thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun.”

“No problem,” Tsuna smiled, “I hope that both of your kids get home safe and hopefully they get to play with little Shouyo soon.”

“A playdate, it is,” the white-haired man grinned as the other two said their goodbyes with each other.

With the video call’s connection cut off, a camera footage only remained playing in the background. It was a fresh recording of what occurred yesterday early afternoon. There were two children in the playroom who were playing with blocks and plush toys. About a few minutes in, one of the children began clutching his head as if in pain and began coughing uncontrollably. At one point through that child’s uncontrolled coughing, his hand had hit the arm of the other child causing her to flicker in and out of existence before finally disappearing. The video ends with the child slumping down the floor pale and unconscious.

With their experience and training, both of them knew that there were no outsiders involved. Mist Flames were a very obvious choice to blame but Byakuran’s own Mist guardian had confirmed none of the sorts. The two let the video burn in their memories and eyes. It was a miracle that they have not completely lost it or destroyed something.

Well, almost.

“How sure are you that my daughter is in a parallel world?” Enma starts as he faces Byakuran.

“A staggering 98.7%,” he simply replied.

Feeling annoyed with the lack of sympathy, the Shimon boss gritted his teeth, “Byakuran, I am in my last legs of being civil with you...just because your own chi-”

“Leave Areth out of this,” Byakuran’s eyes flashed as he fully faced the other boss.

Keeping a tight leash on his own Flames, the redhead sarcastically said, “Your son was the last person in contact with my child. If you’re not admitting that this was your plan all along, it might as well be his, seeing that he is more or less you.”

An uncomfortable silence enveloped the room.

Eyes widening at the words that came out from his mouth, Enma quickly said, “S-sorry, I overstepped my bounds.”

“It’s clearly in my nature to provoke people but I suppose,” Byakuran shook his head, his smile becoming pensive, “...I overdid it this time.”

“I didn’t mean to come off as inconsiderate,” Byakuran starts as he heads towards the screen, “but seeing the footage again and hearing Areth’s story...it’s no longer as alarming as it could’ve been.”

“And why is that…” the red-headed boss clenched his fists.

He placed his hands behind his back as he watched the footage roll again, “It was almost similar to when I did it the first time I traveled in another parallel world.”

“So you knocked yourself out while sending another person off-world?” Enma asked with his eyebrows raised.

Laughing lightly at the picture his comrade’s words made, the Gesso boss said, “You can put it like that but in my case, my whole body got dragged along with the object I held at that time. It’s why I hesitated to assume that this was a similar case and…”

“...you wouldn’t want to believe that Tatsuki was any similar to you,” the Shimon boss finished for him.

Byakuran’s face became contemplative, “...I guess nature had nurture overruled.”

“Anyway, as this is still entirely guesswork,” the white-haired boss’ face turned serious, “I think the reason why Areth’s body didn’t come along with the travel was because of his own unstable Flames reaching out to his parallel self’s call and perform partial interdimensional travel, instead.”

“Okay, fine, let’s work with that,” Enma consented, seeing that the other was no longer joking around, “However, I still don’t understand why we, or rather you, are not going through some portal and actually saving my daughter.”

“You think just because I could cut through the space-time fabric like its marshmallow doesn’t mean I could pinpoint which particular parallel world she got dropped off to,” Byakuran’s lips twitched as the two bosses stared at each other as if squaring off.

_Riiiiing_

The Shimon boss sighed as he checked on his phone, “Oh shi-”

“Hah, good luck with that,” the Gesso boss laughed at the whitening face of the other boss, “the pleasures of not having a wife.”

* * *

“Are you insane?” Shouichi asked as he tried not to facepalm at his best friend’s decision.

Enma snorted from the couch in Byakuran’s office, “You're his best friend. You should know that already.”

“That’s right. Haven’t we agreed that the best ideas come from insane people? Also,” Byakuran grins as he snatched another marshmallow from the table before looking at Enma, “have some gratitude that I lent you Kikyo-kun to trick your famiglia that you and your child are fine.”

“You know what I mean,” the boy with the glasses whined, “You love Tatsuki to the ends of all universes but why in the name of Checker Face would you want to send your son back to wherever he was at.”

“Believe me, I’d rather not do it…” the Gesso boss tapped the pen on his cheek before crumpling the paper and throwing it away, “but it’s the fastest way we can find Enma-kun's daughter and return her here.”

“Byakuran, if this is about what I said earlier-” the Shimon boss frowned.

“Okay, I got it,” Vongola’s mechanic nodded in understanding before his stomach began to hurt, “It’s the link, right? Since Sky Flames arerareenoughandTatsukiisgeneticallytheclosestifnotexa-”

Enma sweatdropped at the other redhead, “Breath.”

As his best friend was trying to even out his breathing, Byakuran casually threw out, “There’s also a large possibility that you do not exist in that particular world.”

“What?! Then what if my child isn’t even there at all?!” Enma’s eyes widened again as he looked at the white-haired boss who continued writing on a fresh page on his desk, “I know we had our spats but I don't want either of the kids to suffer!! You’re sending your son to a suicide mission at my child's expense!!”

The white-haired boss rolled his eyes, as he said, “No, it’s extremely likely that your daughter landed in the same world due to the time frame they both ‘disappeared’.”

“Then how on earth would Tatsuki even know where to go?” the Shimon boss continued to desperately ask.

“I’ll teach him, of course,” the Gesso boss sighed, “Look, I know what I’m doing. Now, _please_ let me write this in peace.”

“Enma-kun, I know he doesn’t look like it,” Shouichi said, now that the pain in his stomach died away, as he gestured to the other boss to leave the office.

Byakuran playfully pouted in the background, “Hey, I thought we’re friends.”

“But he’s practically the only one who knows interdimensional travel like the back of his hand,” waving at his best friend before closing the door, the red-headed mechanic continued, “If you still want to understand what’s going to happen, I’ll try to break it down to you as best as I can.”

Heaving a heavy sigh to calm himself down, Enma faced him, “Tell me.”

“Right now, as it is, Byakuran could go off and find your daughter. However, doing so would require an immense amount of Flames and time. It would take Byakuran months to years to flip through all the possible universes or worlds even with Tatsuki’s description of the place,” Shouichi said as they entered another room where he collected a pile of papers, “To remedy that, the Mare Sky ring’s presence is needed along with Tatsuki.”

Helping the fellow red-head carry half of the pile, Enma frowns, “I understand the ring’s presence as a conduit and amplifier but surely Tatsuki-”

Vongola’s head mechanic shook his head then explained, “Think of him as a homing device - a very special one - for us to know where in the space-time continuum he traveled to. According to Byakuran’s own findings, Tatsuki is a specific existence here in our world.”

“You mean, he’s the only one? One version of himself?” the red-headed boss asked in surprise.

Shouichi nods as they entered the elevator then continued, “In the immediate parallel worlds, at least - the ones where we exist. But for those worlds that we don’t exist, we have no idea. Even so, seeing that he did partially travel to another parallel world then there’s a possibility that he had a body wherever it was.”

“I know you said homing device but how? Surely, Flame search doesn’t extend inter-dimensionally or else even we would have trouble recognizing the Flame signatures of our own guardians,” Enma reasoned as they walked out of the elevator to the direction of the underground laboratories.

“Fortunately, it isn’t like that,” Shouichi sarcastically but lightly sniggered, “You see, the planes of existence have this large barrier-”

The Shimon boss held a hand up to stop the other as he said, “In layman’s terms, please. I don’t think my brain can catch up with all of the sciency terms.”

“You should’ve seen Tsuna when Gokudera and I tried to explain to him the basics of time travel back then,” the Vongola mechanic joked making them both laugh.

“I should ask him about that in the next Alliance meeting,” Enma said, making him smile a bit, “Anyway, as you were saying…” 

“…remember how Tatsuki…came to be, right?” Shouichi carefully asked as they paused on Lab 001.

Enma solemnly nodded as he remembered the day Byakuran’s world, and theirs, as well, got turned upside down.

_It had been the Gesso boss’ 21 st birthday and only his closest allies and friends were invited. It had been the near end of the party when the doorbell sounded. They were all confused and wary, of course, so they prepared for the worse. No sane person would actually walk up to private land and ring Byakuran’s mansion for shits and giggles. _

_Armed and prepared, they swung open the front door only to find nothing but a basket with a letter. It wasn’t uncommon to send a rival or an enemy famiglia a ‘death package’ on their birthday. It was almost an unwritten tradition, at this point. However, upon finding a living and breathing baby on that package, they all figured that there was something fishy about it, even by mafia standards. Byakuran’s guardians had done the safety protocols on it with extra care since there was a child included. When they figured that it was generally safe to move, Yuni had stepped forth to carry the child out of the basket for the curiosity of all of them._

_Seeing white hair and lavender eyes incredibly similar to the man of the hour, they all had the idea that whoever the famiglia that sent him had godawful humor but they still good-naturedly laughed at him. It was only when Tsuna asked for the child’s DNA to be checked that they no longer found the situation to be a joke. They all had been sad, furious, and shocked, Byakuran even more so, when the results contained 100% identical DNA match to the Gesso boss._

_It had only meant two things:_

  1. _Byakuran was now the father of a very young boy, and  
_
  2. _That child was also his clone._



_If both Shoichi and Gokudera, the brains of the Vongola, were at a loss on how such a thing had occurred then there was no chance anyone else in that mansion can comprehend it either. The process wasn’t lost to the two but to think someone had done this unethical endeavor under all of their noses was disconcerting and concerning. It didn't take long for Byakuran to issue an SS grade mission for his guardians to find the culprits. He, Dino, Tsuna, and Yuni didn't hesitate to send their fellow friend help but Byakuran had only thanked them for the offer. He had stressed that this situation was a personal attack on him and he was going to destroy whoever it was by his own hands.  
_

_In the meantime, while the Gesso famiglia was trying to find where and who in the whole of the Underground had done it, Yuni had gifted the boy ‘Tatsuki’ as his name since they met him when the moon was full. As much as their work permitted them, they alternately took care of the baby boy in their own mansions. A few weeks later, the Gesso famiglia figured who had the gall to perform such a thing on their boss and were on their way to annihilate them._

_They were too late, however._

_Arriving somewhere in the vast and barren land of Siberia, they only saw an incinerated laboratory, presumably set aflame by the instigators, themselves, who had done the deed._

_Byakuran and his famiglia went home defeated in such a different way. The Gesso boss, himself, had become a bit of a workaholic for a while perhaps to cope and process what the past month meant for his future. Enma didn’t see it for himself but according to what Yuni told Tsuna and him, Byakuran didn’t dare look at Tatsuki or be within arm’s length of the child. It was only through Yuni’s clairvoyance, since she knew she hadn’t seen it personally, that they were reassured that Byakuran did not fully abandon his child._

_The following were her words:  
_

_It_ _would be a night,  
When the new moon rose,  
_ _When the tide was high  
In front of the child’s crib,  
He breaks and weeps_ _  
And call the boy, 'Areth’._

_It must’ve happened._

_Because, several months later, when he was visiting the Gesso, Byakuran bounced back to his old annoying self lovingly calling the boy, ‘Areth’. When asked what it meant, he cheekily replied that it was from a scientific name of a specific type of orchid. As the man explained the properties and special specific differences of the plant to some of its kind, Enma became lost in all the science behind it but he was glad that his fellow boss, comrade, and friend had picked himself back up from a hole someone had dug for him._

“Since they are clones of each other,” Shoichi huffs as he placed the files down on the table with Enma following suit, “We figured that their flames, only the properties but not control, would also be identical to a T.”

Still confused, Enma asked, “But what if the ‘Tatsuki’ from the other world doesn’t have Flames? Byakuran also said that there might not be a copy of us there.”

Shoichi eyed Spanner, Vongola’s other technician, who was already working on the circular contraption on the wall, before he replied, “It won’t matter whether _our_ Flames there are expressed similarly or not.”

“And why wouldn’t it?”

The red-headed tactician softly smiled at the Shimon boss, “Because the Sea will _always_ be the Sea, wherever they are.”

* * *

“Ranpo,” the President’s eyes narrowed at the genius detective, “What made you arrive at that conclusion?”

“With all due respect, Ranpo-san,” Kunikida pushed his glasses up, “I think ‘traveling in between dimensions’ is impossible...even as an Ability.”

Yosano tried to listen in as Ranpo excitedly began his explanation of the case they currently have unsolved. Thoughts of the little boy in the infirmary circled her already pounding head. While she could instantly heal the boy, there was no outward injury she could touch. She also doesn't want to cause the kid any more traumatizing pain. All she could do now is monitor his weak pulse and hope it doesn't get any worse than that. She regretted that she didn’t officially send Dazai to hell that day. He only left the boy in her arms before disappearing in goodness knows where and even now, he still hasn’t returned.

To be honest, she wanted the step out of the stuffy meeting room.

But she was a responsible member of the Agency.

She has to stomach through this.

“...like time travel, telekinesis, shapeshifting, even the use of pheromones. We may have no clarity who has them but whispers of these Abilities surfaced in our world. The Flames that boy talks about are very revolutionary!! There is no way the use of _healing_ Flames or even Flames that _multiply_ objects hasn’t spread in the community of Ability users-”

_Knock knock_

Every single person’s attention turned towards the door who revealed Haruno, “Good afternoon, sir, everyone.”

The President acknowledged her presence, “What is it, Haruno-kun.”

“...I’ll let him explain,” Haruno nervously inhales as she further opened the door revealing their small white-haired charge.

“Tatsuki!!” Yosano stood up in surprise and relief.

“Hello, Yosano-san,” the small boy angelically smiled, “Daddy has a letter for you all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information:  
>  *Areth is from the scientific name of Dragon's Mouth Orchid ( _[Arethusa bulbosa](https://goorchids.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Orchidaceae/arethusa-bulbosa-fl-rleblanc-2.jpg)_ )
> 
> A/N:  
>  I've got 2 types of references in this chapter:  
>  1\. Here's a hint for the first: It's another _name_  
>  2\. The second one is the group of Abilities Ranpo mentioned near the end ( _time travel, telekinesis, shapeshifting, pheromones_ ). They are a reference to some irl books I've seen/my friends talked about. The hints are the following:
> 
> _(Book - Writer)_  
>  TM – HGW  
>  I – SK  
>  TM – FK  
>  TMN or NMT - JR  
> 
> 
> If you figured some or all of it out, let me know in the comments and I'll tell you if you're wrong or right.
> 
> If you figured out the first easter egg, I might tell you a secret :)
> 
> HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
> 
> CHAPTER 7: January


	7. Altered Rise and Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tune later is inspired by Sleeping At Last - [Lullaby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnm3BLfTB8). I just tweaked the lyrics a bit to fit Chuuya's thing with sheep. I still made it rhyme and could be sung over the music. Please go check that out because it's sooo good and it actually made me sleep lol.  
> :)  
> Also, shoutout to [SnowShiro-Kitsune14](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4336455/SnowShiro-Kitsune14) who also figured it out somewhat. It was interesting to see your thoughts and how this fic actually looks to you.

* * *

_Whether it be emotions or actions, they were turned upside down.  
Like riding a roller-coaster, one’s heart and blood rate become chaotic._

* * *

“Come on, lamb,” Chuuya said under his breath as he rocked her to slumber, “go to sleep.”

It was one of those days where no amount of milk or swaying Chuuya did put her to snooze. The Port Mafia executive inwardly sighed as he briefly glanced at the bunch of papers on his desk. At this point, he would have to accept the fact that he’d have to pull another all-nighter to get those done. As much as he wanted to cuss up a storm because of it, he chose to just hold all those curse words in. He doesn’t know how Kouyou was doing it but he’d rather not get another earful about babies mimicking his potty mouth.

But it was getting harder to keep that promise, by the second.

Making the nth lap around his bedroom and office, he decides to go around their floor for a change of pace and scenery. The boss had restricted access on their floor to prevent lower-leveled grunts from going up and gaining knowledge of Mamiko. Thus, Chuuya had full confidence that no one else other than those he trusts would see him carrying a baby around and not misinterpreting it. 

Passing by his old mentor’s office, he suddenly got struck by an idea. He remembers how Kouyou’s humming made Mamiko go out like a light. For a quick second, he considers retracing his steps to ask her how the sound went. However, he reconsiders calling for her. He respects his mentor a lot but the memories of the other day were still fresh from his mind.

‘I ain’t a mother hen,’ he inwardly scoffs, ‘much less have some kind of motherly anxiety.’

Besides he doesn’t think she’ll appreciate it if he wakes her at this time of night.

After much walking without Mamiko not showing any signs of wanting to sleep, Chuuya realized that he’d inadvertently roamed towards the western part of their floor. It’s the portion of the building rarely visited by any of them. It isn’t because of something petty like ghosts or mysterious shit but there’s just nothing important or worth going to in this particular corridor. Most of the rooms were just empty and dusty. There had even been a point in the past where they considered renovating it. However, their boss mentioned something like a reminder of some sort, which Kouyou somehow understood, so the subject was never brought up again.

Entering the only unlocked room, he didn’t expect it to be much bigger than the ones he passed by. It looked like Mori’s office with the floor-length windows and carpeted marble floors. But unlike his office, the hall-like room only offered a piano and its bench. There were also a couple of boxes and cases in the corner but that was it.

‘A piano room? In the Port Mafia Headquarters?’ Chuuya’s eyebrows raised in disbelief, ‘How come I didn’t even fucking know this existed?’

The room was mostly dark but the old curtains were parted enough for the light from the barely full moon to illuminate the area. His footsteps echo as he went forward to the lone instrument in the room. His gloved hand slid over the instrument’s lid leaving a clear straight trail over the dusty surface. Ignoring the particles stuck in his glove, he lifted the lid up and pressed a random key. The clear bright sound reverberated loudly making Mamiko squirm and whimper in his arms.

It was a good thing Chuuya’s swaying managed to calm her down.

Exhaling deeply, he carefully sat down on the bench and gently laid her over his lap with the support of his Ability. Looking at the black and white assortment of keys, Chuuya slowly pressed another key and observed how Mamiko reacted. With only gurgling sounds coming from the baby, he used this chance to figure out what Kouyou’s humming sounded like.

He had only learned the scales but he supposes it won’t be too hard.

In a little over a few minutes, he had figured out four notes and Mamiko was starting to yawn. Considering it a little victory, he cheered a little inside. It gave him the extra boost to mapping out the correct order of all the notes. In his burst of excitement, he unknowingly added a few words to the [tune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnm3BLfTB8) he’d made.

“Goodnight…goodnight,” he paused as he positioned his hand over the next keys.

“Says so…the sheep,” he continues to add over the notes, unconsciously.

“I’ll be,” he looks at Mamiko’s half-closed eyes, “…watching over.”

Pressing C then B flat on the piano, he finishes, “Singing you…to sleep.”

He replayed the string of notes and words a few more times until he was sure Mamiko’s soft snores indicated her sleeping. He cautiously released his Ability’s hold on her over his arms and swiftly made his way out of the room. He once again makes use of his Ability to quietly glide through the hallways without shaking Mamiko too much. Arriving in his own bedroom, he heads straight to her crib and laid her down slowly. He silently tiptoes on his way out, not without leaving the door ajar. He sighs with a bare hint of a smile on his face as he sits on his office chair.

Not wanting to ruin his good mood yet with the papers on his desk, he reaches for the wine bottle on the cabinet behind him and pours himself a glass. With the taste of sweet wine in his mouth, he leaned down to unlock the lowest drawer of his desk and pulled out a notebook. His lips twitched as he flipped through the pages filled with records and notes. He had followed one of Kouyou’s advice in ‘remedying’ his cursing. She said that if he had to really curse or had far too many thoughts about something he wanted to curse at, he should just consider writing them down.

He naturally sneered at the idea at first because it was tedious and a waste of time – writing about his thoughts, that is.

Until Kouyou suggested that he should write about Mamiko as well.

Arriving at an empty page, he begins to jot down his thoughts about the day along with what he and Mamiko did along with the short song he made earlier. Putting the notebook back to its proper place and locking it, his eyes turn serious at the pile of papers on his table. He starts frowning as he sifts through the documents necessary for tomorrow’s ‘business’ trip. They had to keep appearances so he still has to go to these monthly meetings held in their many ‘legal’ companies.

Unfortunately for him, both he and Kouyou were scheduled to leave on the same day and Mamiko has to be left in someone else’s hands. Not once did he consider sending her to the boss (much less Ace who recently came back from his own ‘legal’ business) because even if he did a good job in taking care of her last time, his boss’ obsession with little girls still leaves him with a bad taste in his mouth. Besides, the man was swamped with papers he had set aside when he and Elise brought Mamiko to town. Kajii was out, literally. He was planning his next big experiment and Chuuya would rather keep Mamiko away from all those explosives.

So that leaves him with one choice.

He was certainly trying to convince himself that his little girl would be okay in their hands as Kouyou reminded him over and over. He promises himself that he won’t kick a fuss in about 5 hours later. He will reluctantly give them the benefit of the doubt. He just hopes he made the right decision in doing so.

“Tch,” he scratches his hair in frustration, “I need another bottle for this shit.”

* * *

Higuchi was going to die.

And to think that she swore an oath to two out of three executives that she’ll treat this as a high-grade mission.

_"Should the girl be harmed," the older woman clad in red kimono looked at her in the eye, "...I’m afraid, even I won’t be enough to stop him."_

‘Forget about getting harmed,’ the blond sunk down to her thoughts, ‘The baby’s not even here!!’

She was so dead.

And to think she hasn't even confessed her admiration yet.

.

.

.

No.

There’s still a little over 10 hours before the two executives return.

‘Okay, Higuchi,’ she slaps her palms to her cheeks, ‘Let’s think this through…’

Her eyes roam from left to right and back again only to feel her anxiousness come back to her in waves. No matter how much looking she did, there was just so much evidence that led her to believe that the child was kidnapped. What else could she say about how most of the furniture was turned upside down but being part of a scuffle that definitely occurred.

However, it was definitely peculiar how there seemed to be no signs of blood indicating that intruders made contact with her senpai.

‘Nevertheless, the alarms should’ve been ringing by now,’ the blond Mafioso thought as she looked closer at the playpen.

The playpen was as clean as it was when they built it from scratch a little over 4 hours ago. However, the baby toys that were supposed to be in it were incredibly scattered outside of it as if they were purposefully thrown out. As she was about to pick the stuffed doll up, she stepped on a very small white puddle of something. Looking ahead, she notices a trail of the same substances forming across her towards the overturned table and scattered papers. Curiously but cautiously, she follows it to a nearly empty milk bottle. As she was to get the bottle, she sees a familiar figure lying face down on the floor behind the table.

Her hands grow cold as she shakenly shouts, “A-Akutagawa-senpai!!!”

She hastily forced herself to run to the unmoving body of her superior and quickly checked him over. Flipping him over, she finds no blood nor large wound that could threaten his life which eased her worries a bit. Unfortunately for her, she found herself in a dilemma over how she could wake her superior up.

‘Shake him? No. That would be disrespectful but then…’ she glances at her superior officer’s lips making her blush, ‘I d-don’t think t-that would be a-appropriate?! I m-mean the situation calls for it b-‘

Higuchi quickly snapped out of her daydreaming as she heard the black-haired Mafioso groan into consciousness, “A-Akutagawa-senpai!! Are you alright?! What happened?!”

“Shut up, Higuchi,” the person in question groaned before he shot up angrily as he wildly looked around, “Where’s that brat?!”

“The baby’s gone missing, senpai,” she replied as the two picked themselves up on the floor, “I didn’t hear any alarms for an intruder but I suspect that someone may have kidnapped her. Has senpai made contact with-”

Coughing to his palm, Akutagawa blocked out his subordinate’s rambling and inwardly seethed, ‘That damn brat!!’

_“I’ll be right back, senpai,” the blonde woman salutes before closing the door to his office._

_Akutagawa only absentmindedly nods as he was writing details of what went in his missions with great concentration. These papers needed to be done today while he still had free time and the events that happened in his mission could easily be called back from his memory. He didn’t want to forget to write any significant detail by setting it aside to rest. In his old mentor’s eyes, his slow progress right now would be unacceptable and would warrant punishment._

_It was a good thing the child he was supposed to be babysitting wasn’t distracting at all._

_“Awuu Bwuu Ahhagaba”_

_Or not._

_‘Tch, why is it chattering?!’ he pinches the bridge of his nose as he takes his eyes off the paper._

_He narrowed his eyes as he looked at how the child reached out to the stuffed doll that was somehow outside of the playpen. Knowing that the noise would only grow and distract him if the child didn’t get what it wanted, he got up from his seat, picked the toy up, and threw it in the pen. The child’s happy gurgling noise went unappreciated as he headed back to his table to take his pen up again._

_It doesn’t take long for the child to make sounds again. He indifferently eyed the child and the ball that was outside the playpen. He rolls his eyes but ultimately did the same thing he did earlier. Telling the child to not do it again, he returns to his seat. But before he could even take a seat, the child made more annoying sounds for the third time._

_Visibly irritated, Akutagawa just made his Ability zoom out to the toys - two dolls and a ball - and deposit them into the pen without him moving in place. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t account for the child to scream at the black form of Rashomon. In his stupor, the child prompted the surrounding toys she had along with some of the furniture in his office to glow red and float. Thanks to the reflexes he had honed over the years, he had managed to evade the objects continuously hurled at him and his Ability._

_Not wanting to get his office wrecked and his reports destroyed, the Rabid Dog of the Port Mafia quickly commanded his Ability to catch the thrown objects and furniture and return them to their proper places. In the midst of the hurricane of chaos happening in the room, he failed to notice a certain bottle hurtling towards the back of his head._

"Chuuya-san will murder us all," Higuchi murmured in the corner of the room.

‘As much as I abhor that hellion,’ the cranky teen thought as he rubbed the portion of his head that was hit by the bottle, ‘Chuuya-san holds a higher position than me…she must be returned alive.’

Making up his mind, Akutagawa coughs but proceeds to go out of the room, which does not go unnoticed by Higuchi, “Senpai, where are you going?”

Blocking out the woman’s inquiry, the black-haired Mafioso started to look around for any sign of the child’s presence. Despite wanting to focus on the task at hand, the dull throb at the back of his head kept him from doing so. The way he got knocked out, by a child no less, was absolutely humiliating and it infuriated him so much. Shaking his head to chase the thought away, he chose the direction where he sensed some noise and movement. Ignoring the footsteps of his subordinate behind him, he quickly sped up when he finally set his eyes on the child on the floor. 

Seeing the baby up ahead, Higuchi sighed in relief, “Thank goo-”

“There you are, you little runt!!” 

Once again, the child cried in surprise as Rashomon flew towards her. Upon the scare, the two mafiosos noticed how the stacked boxes of crates began falling down on them making them step back. With a resulting crash on the ground, particles of dust and wood shavings kicked up further blocking the two mafiosos sight of the baby. The child managed to float away leaving the two to shield their eyes and cough. Furious at the hindrance, the Rabid Dog ordered Rashomon to shred the crates off to clear the path.

“That little brat!!”

* * *

Tachihara was having a good day.

The Black Lizard’s last consecutive missions went very well. It also elicited great satisfaction in him as he and his team brought down hordes of men. Writing more reports than usual was a bit of a hassle but he finally finished and filed it away this morning. Now, he was free and was considering taking the day off to have some good ole muscle training to top the week off.

The thought brought a large grin to his face.

At least until something collided with it.

“Hey watch it!” he hissed at whatever it was that started to claw on his face nearly scratching the bandage on his nose away.

“There, senpai,” he heard a woman’s voice come from the left corridor, “Tachihara-san don’t let the kid get away!”

‘Why the hell would I not let go?!’ he angrily thought in confusion, ‘And what kid?!’

Successfully removing the thing on his face, he didn’t have the chance to react as the brute force of Rashomon knocked him down. Losing his grip on the child, she fearfully floated away in another direction. As the pair of mafiosos jumped over him, preferring to chase down the kid, Tachihara was left dumbfounded on the floor.

Snapping out of his stupefaction, he quickly follows them, “Oi, what the fuck is happening?!”

“No time to explain,” Higuchi answered as they made a sharp turn, “but if we don’t catch her at all, we’ll face something worse than death.”

The rusty red-haired Mafioso didn’t ask anything else. He was in disbelief as much as he was confused. On one hand, he couldn’t believe three mafiosos were having a hard time catching a baby. On the other hand, he doesn’t know why a kid could scare a trained Mafioso so badly. There was also the question of whether he should include this in the other report or not.

He doesn’t even know where to start.

Tachihara’s thought process halted as his senses alarmed him to stop. In a little over a second, he noticed something shiny set the bags of flour that the kid had knocked over on fire. Fortunately, the sprinklers did their job and the fire died down. It drenched them all in the process, however. No longer blocking their way, the three mafiosos crossed over with Tachihara picking up the lighter left on the floor. 

Soon enough, an old man followed behind them from the intersection. An eyebrow raised in question, Tachihara just shook his head and gestured to Hirotsu to just follow the two in front. A little while later, after passing by the elevator that goes deeper underground, their little band of mafiosos was tailed by a similarly confused assassin.

“Oi, oi, oi, this is getting ridiculous,” Tachihara shouts in frustration as he climbed over the mess of crates, “Can’t we just stop and wait for her to get-”

“NO,” Akutagawa growls as he sends out Rashomon again to try and restrain the child, “That brat needs to be taught a lesson!!”

“Higuchi,” Hirotsu calls for the blond’s attention, “Is that the child Chuuya took in?”

She looks at the older man with a strained smile. Understanding the implication, Hirotsu nods while Gin and Tachihara stared incredulously at their blonde superior then at the kid ahead. They both initially thought that it was some baseless rumor spread by someone who wanted to pick on one of their executives. Neither of them took it seriously and only thought that the person had a death wish for doing such a thing.

Now that it was out in the open, the resemblance, at least color-wise, was very uncanny.

“Shit, so we- Hey! What’s the hold up old man?!” Tachihara rubbed his nose as he stepped to the side to see what was upfront this time.

“It’s a dead-end…”

“We clearly saw her going left here. There’s no way-”

“Shut up, Higuchi!”

Over in another room, somewhere in the upper levels of the Port Mafia Headquarters, Ace eerily laughs by himself. He watched the footage from the screen where the chase of the runaway baby was still ongoing. Five trained mafiosos were at a loss at the wall they were staring at and he couldn’t help but laugh at their situation. He doesn’t even need to listen in to figure out the content of their frustrating conversation.

His laughs may have died down but the mirth in his eyes still showed. There was nothing more amusing than watching how a barely year-old baby evaded the capture of the Black Lizard and one Rabid Dog. His laughter picked up again when the little girl slowly fell asleep over the beams directly above the five ‘elites’.

“Even the best of men forgets to look up…”

* * *

Kouyou amusedly shook her head as she watched her old charge repeatedly press the elevator button as if doing so would take them down quicker, ‘At least he didn’t crash the elevator down with his Ability…’

Lightly slapping his hand, Kouyou was only given a slight pause before Chuuya started fidgeting with a blue ribbon on his other hand. Quirking an eyebrow at the item, she notices that there were actually two pieces of ribbon. Embroidered with golden thread, the two ribbons were differentiated by two sets of kanji.

‘To think Chuuya-kun would reach this level of endearing,’ she happily thought as the elevator doors opened, ‘Who would’ve thought he’d have someone personalize them with his and Mami-chan’s initials.’

With the orange-haired man running ahead, Kouyou took a slower and calmer walk towards an old acquaintance leaning by the wall, “Hirotsu, this is a surprise. It's your day off, isn't it?”

Hirotsu gestured for her to go ahead as he walked beside her, “The children were being…rambunctious. Someone had to keep them in line.”

“I see,” she hummed at the underlying meaning, “I take it they managed to…get their act together? Despite being totally unaccustomed to the situation?”

The old man glanced at her as he pointed to the open door, “Have a look for yourself…”

The red-haired woman indifferently peeked at the utter chaos she found in Akutagawa’s office. She shoots a loving glance at Chuuya trying to tie the ribbon on Mamiko’s hair. As she surveys the rest of the room, she lets out a soft giggle at the position of some of her subordinates. Over by the displaced couch were a pile of dead-to-the-world bodies of Akutagawa, Higuchi, Tachihara, and Gin. Drenched hair, scorched parts of clothes, flour and wood shavings on their shoes – it looked like they had quite a ‘blast’ taking care of Chuuya’s little girl.

“Hirotsu,” the woman called, turning to the old mafioso with a twinkle in her eye.

Lips quirked into a hidden smirk, the man answered, “I believe you should ask Ace, instead.”

Pleased at the answer, Kouyou gleefully maneuvered around the mess of sleeping mafiosos to where Chuuya had only managed to gather a few of the baby’s hair into a ponytail, “Chuuya.”

“Shhhh,” the orange-headed mafioso gritted his teeth as he carefully looped the blue ribbon, “I almost got it.”

Sighing at the young man’s unrelenting attitude, the older executive turned to a frowning Mamiko, “I know it’s hard, little one but you have to be patient with Chuuya. Chuuya is a prideful man who likes to assert his dominance despite his height-”

“Ane-san…” the younger executive flushed red in anger and shame at his old caretaker’s words.

Playfully grinning at the young man’s expense, she continues, “But don’t let his height fool you. Chuuya is a very strong man and I have no doubt that Chuuya will do anything to keep Mami-chan safe and happy. Isn’t that right, Chuuya?”

Burning redder than his and her old mentor’s hair, Chuuya was at a loss on what to say, “I-”

“Uya”

Astounded at the sound the baby made, the two executives, even Hirotsu, gave the young girl a wide-eyed stare. Immediately snapping out of her astonishment, Kouyou coaxed the little girl to make the same sound. At the red-haired woman’s cajoling, the knocked out mafiosos had also begun to stir. Noticing the presence of the executives in the room, the younger members quickly got up to apologize in various degrees of bowing.

“Shhhhh,” Kouyou serenely replied making them quietly gulp to themselves.

“Mami-chan,” she tried again as she got the baby’s undivided attention again, “Who is this?”

The young girl followed the older woman’s finger pointing to the man beside her. For a moment, both Kouyou and Chuuya frowned. Perhaps, it was still too early for the kid to actually say at least a syllable. Even so, they solely believed that they actually heard her say the end syllable of Chuuya’s name.

Cluelessly looking at the orange-haired man, Mamiko patted his arm and babbled,

“Uya, uya.”

* * *

Later that day, rumors spread down in the office front of the Port Mafia. There were two versions of it. The first was that the Black Lizard and the Rabid Dog put down a deranged bomber after much difficulty in catching said person. The other was that they almost failed to apprehend a witness after much struggle so they only got a slap in the wrist.

Little do they all, or the rest of the outside world actually, know that the Tachihara, Gin, Higuchi, and Akutagawa were actually pardoned and got away scot-free because of a child’s first word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> I heard my niece say her first word a few weeks ago. It reflected on my work hehe.
> 
> Anyway, I've already written everything and I'm now only nitpicking the last few chapters for grammar and stuff. 
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome, by the way, and if you've spotted typos and wrong grammar that I haven't seen, feel free to comment them down, as well.
> 
> Chapter 8: February


	8. On a Collision Course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Don't forget to keep CREATOR'S STYLE on.**  
>  I worked hard on editing the papers in there wtf so uh keep it showing. It would look ugly if didn't.  
> Thanks. Enjoy!!

* * *

_A pair not quite meeting but understanding is met.  
When more unknowns are revealed, some laugh, some curse._

* * *

"That stupid waste of bandages…" Kunikida grumbled as he walked down the footpath, "When I get my hands on that idiot…"

Dazai laughed to himself as his detective partner passed by the store he ducked into. Ignoring the man, he strolls by the aisles and pockets a roll of string. As he reached the counter, he eyed two new cashier ladies and subtly flirted with the two. He casually threw premade compliments and side-eying the entrance of the store at the same time. Noticing that the customers were piling up, he politely asks if he could go to the back and use their restroom. Smitten by his charms, both ladies permitted him to enter the 'employees only' door.

And just like that, he enters and easily hops over the comfort room's window to the alleyway behind the building. Putting the pepper spray he swiped from one of the ladies onto his breast pocket, he made his way through the narrow lane maze behind the commercial district. Listening intently to the sound of hurried footsteps and the occasional screeching of metal, he purposefully created several obstacles along some of the other pathways.

After orchestrating some blockage along the way, he finds a suitable dead end. Once he rearranged the trash cans by the wall, he threw a small speaker behind them. Fishing out the roll of string, he started to stretch it out into a complicated trap. Grinning at his work, he pressed the play on the device controlling the speaker. Cranking up the sound, he lies in wait and recalled his earlier conversation with Kunikida.

_It was 12:35 am when he arrived at the Agency's door._

_Coffee cup on his right hand, he enters his workplace expecting Kunikida to give him a mouthful. To his bewilderment, it was a burning page that greeted him in the face. He had almost swatted the thing away from him by reflex when it registered in his head that Kunikida wasn't getting scorched from holding it. And just as he was about to jokingly remark about going to hell in smoke, the idealist detective cuts him off,_

" _Just read it."_

_Shrugging at the man's seriousness, he slowly takes a sip of the coffee he got from downstairs to irritate him. Seeing no change in his expression, Dazai eventually grabbed the paper from him and read its content. The first thing he noticed, aside from the obvious fire, was the label of Mafia boss. And for a split second, he thought that they had discovered his old identity. But upon further reading, he decided otherwise. He skimmed through the introduction, only taking note of the sender's name, Byakuran Gesso, in favor of the next paragraph._

_…It may sound far-fetched but I assure you the ‘Flames’ that Tatsuki told you about is of absolute certainty. Although, as detectives, you should be open-minded, shouldn’t you? If it is so hard to swallow, my signature below would suffice. Feel free to run your hands through the ‘fire’._

_Daring to play along, Dazai unhesitatingly brushed his hand over the blazing orange fire. True to the writer's words, he didn't catch on fire. Disappointing it may be, the letter did suggest that the 'flame' wouldn't burn anyone. He doesn't know if it was his Ability or the actual effect of the 'flame' but all he felt from it was its warm presence._

_It was as if it existed for existence's sake._

' _Maybe the 'flame' is designed not to burn…' he thought._

_Seeing as you are a detective agency, I hope you had caught on to the peculiarity of the situation. Your society holds a different set of rules when it comes to the ‘abilities’ my son told me about. I have several theories in mind but I am telling you now that the arrival of this letter along with Tatsuki’s awakening in your side is the only justification you need to believe that yes, Tatsuki and I are from a parallel universe…_

'… _an alternate universe…' Dazai hummed in low-key interest, 'to think the option I considered the least…'_

_Dazai breezed through the last few paragraphs which described the circumstances Areth, the father's pet name for the boy, was put into by his uncontrolled powers. From what he understood, the Tatsuki they have here was the combination of this world's Tatsuki and his son. Presumably, something traumatic had happened to this world's version of the kid who, in turn, called upon the help of the other. For now, Areth is anchored to two bodies and eventually, he has to let go of the other one to officially return to his own._

" _In short, the kid here has been…"_

" _Dead, yes," Kunikida finished for him, "And will be, as soon as 'Areth' officially cuts off the cord between them…or so the father says."_

_Ignoring the slight pinprick pain in his heart, Dazai squints at the paper in suspicion, "…"_

" _Read from the third sentence in the fourth paragraph," the dirty blond fixed his glasses as he closed his laptop, "That's the other main thing you should know about."_

_Surprisingly, he did as he was told. It didn't take much longer for a smirk to work its way on his face at the following content of the letter._

_…sent another person there. She is about a year old, with reddish-orange hair and bluish-grey eyes. Her most distinct feature is the compass-like irises similar to her father. Checking any person having earth or gravity ‘abilities’ would be suggested. She must be found alive else your city or wherever it is you live gets decimated by that child’s father. Personally, I would want to observe what happens when your ‘abilities’ interact with our ‘Flames’. Although, I think it is in your best interest to not take my words lightly because then the blame would be on you._

_Once again, I am grateful for you taking care of my son._

_See you in a few days._

_Sincerely,_  
_Byakuran Gesso_  
_Gesso Famiglia Boss_  
_Millefiore Famiglia Co-boss_

_P.S. To the person who forced my child to use ‘Flames’, I would like to personally talk to you. ^_^_

" _Are we sure that the writer didn't accidentally eat some shrooms?" Dazai asked the other man who huffed in exasperation._

" _If I were you, I would be worried talking to this man in a few days," Kunikida grabs the back of his collar and dragged him out, "Anyway, we have another kid to find."_

Dazai pressed himself in between the thinner back alley near the area. Just as he had predicted, two out of the three suspicious individuals, ones he had noticed when he walked alongside Kunikida earlier, ran ahead to the trap he had set. Based on how they moved about an hour earlier, they were kidnappers who had the gall to take unsuspecting children in broad daylight. Brave of them to try but their actions, driven by desperation, didn't escape his meticulous eyes. Especially with how they hastily pushed the stroller as if they were being chased.

He figured they should have ties on the other case they worked on 2 to 3 weeks ago.

Hearing them shout in alarm from the spray, he immediately knocked the two figures out. As he turned off the speaker emitting fake crying sounds of a child, he faced the other hooded figure gripping the stroller a lot tighter. His stepping forward forced the unknown individual to make a run for it only to be stopped by the sounds of ground cracking underneath and a bunch of other breaking noises.

The bandaged man smirks, "I believe the choice is obvious…don't you think?"

The resounding thrum of metals and concrete cracking under great force made the kidnapper flinch. Indecisive eyes flicked from Dazai to the direction of the crashing then back again. Preventing a yawn from escaping his mouth, Dazai lightly and quietly moved forward every time the man looked away from him. Upon stupidly lowering his guard, the kidnapper was effectively knocked down unconscious by Dazai's punch. Dusting off his hands, Dazai looked over the stroller and immediately noticed the distinctive feature of the child's eyes.

"I've had my suspicions," he smiled as the child made grabby hands at him, "and honestly, I never thought the slug would make a good mom."

Dishing out pen and paper from his pocket, he quickly jots a message down and leaves it on the kid. Playfully pinching the girl's cheek, he leaves the scene by hefting himself on the lower ledge to reach the protruding pipes of the building. He scales the wall and hops over an open window. Getting into a storage room, he closes it as a silhouette of a familiar midget shows on the opposite wall.

Whistling as he eventually exits the building's front side to the crowded street, he thought, 'Now the slug owes me another one.'

* * *

I’m hurt you failed to mention to me you now have a child  
Next time you see me, I better see your rich girl act, slug

Chuuya knew.

He knew who it was. Albeit downplayed, this was the work of that irritating man. And while he had a weird aggravating kinship with the idiot, he was relieved that his ex-partner had not indeed died in a ditch from a successful suicide.

Not that he'll ever say that to anyone else's face.

Anyway, normally, this wouldn't be a problem. He now has a lead and is prepared to manhunt him after collecting more information. However, that damn mackerel had gotten material to hold over him into submission. And the worse thing is, that material was the little kid he'd diligently tried to raise and keep safe.

'I gotta set my priorities straight,' he grits his teeth as he kicked the kidnappers to check if they actually fainted, 'Had I not gotten distracted by my anger on that irresponsible driver, this wouldn't…'

The paper crumpled further in his hands.

"DAZAI!"

The orange-headed man's bellowing, further amplified by the near-empty back alley, prompted the little girl to cry. Realizing that his angry shouting startled the kid, he quickly changed gears and made funny faces at the kid, a trick he'd learned from those parenting books Kouyou gave him. Seeing the baby's frown turn into a happy babble, Chuuya's anger dissipated to a tolerable level. Handing one of the rattles to her, the high-ranked mafioso pushed the Mamiko's stroller out of the alley to the sidewalk.

As he was about to give his subordinates a call for 'clean up', another annoying person greeted him.

"Nakahara-san?" a familiar cyan-haired lady walked towards him.

'Shit, she already saw Mamiko,' the Port Mafia executive frowned as the agent under the Special Ability Department neared the two of them, 'I have to shake her off of reporting this.'

Tsujimura* took a short glance at the stroller as she mentally made a note to report the peculiarity of the baby to her superiors, "I would just like to ask if you had any hand in that certain alley scuffle."

"They took the child from that lady over there," Chuuya unskillfully acted, "I was in the area."

"Oh," Tsujimura smiled at the obvious lie, "I apologize if they had offended you- ahem the lady. The Special Abilities Department will be taking this case so we would appreciate it if the Port would stay out of this."

"Tch, do what you want," he scoffed as he headed in the other direction.

The agent shook her head as she turned her attention to the other dangerous individual, she had to constantly keep watch, "Ayatsuji-sensei*, wait! The protocol-"

Chuuya quickly steers the stroller far ahead in the direction they were supposed to be heading. He doesn't want to be followed by that woman else he put Mamiko on their radar. Sighing, he chucks the previous situation at the back of his mind.

A spring breeze greets the two as he thought of the goal of this walk. He doesn't know what his old mentor was thinking but she sent him and Mamiko out on a stroll through town. He guesses it might've been a reward for working his ass off on getting that good deal for their firearms supply. Besides, he hasn't gotten a day out with Mamiko since he took her in about four weeks ago.

It was nice.

'If only I could just beat those bastards up by the end of the day,' the executive grins, 'Not even that peach flower boy's taunt would matter.'

Reaching the park, Chuuya positions the stroller in front of him as he sits on the bench. Getting a snack from the bag, he feeds himself and his baby bite-sized bread. For a moment, the mafia executive thought of the normality of the situation – going to the park with your kid, enjoying the occasional wind, and plainly watching the civilian lives around him. He doesn't regret building the Sheep up from the ground nor joining the Port Mafia but he does often forget the normalcy of being human simply labeled as a Japanese citizen.

Perhaps in another life, he might have just been part of the regular workforce.

Like a writer or a poet.

'Nah, that would've been boring,' he thought as he lifted his head towards the person stopped by his bench, "What?"

"Ah, sorry for disturbing you sir," a tall brown-haired guy scratched his head, "I was just thinking if you and your child could be the model for my photography assignment?"

The Port Mafia executive narrowed his eyes at the suspicious request, "There are plenty of mother and child pairs over at the playground. Why not try there?"

"That's the problem, sir," the college-aged boy adjusted his camera, "You're the only dad with a child in the area…It's the theme of our photography club this month…"

Chuuya stares a bit longer at the younger man as he bows sincerely, "Please, sir. I really need it."

"Tch, fine," the mafioso looked away from him as he picked Mamiko up, "On one condition…I get to keep a copy of the picture uhh…"

"Omi, sir," the guy smiles as he angles his camera ready, "I'll develop a copy, right after."

True to the college boy's words, as soon as he approved of the picture, he got it printed quickly, "Here it is sir. Thank you, again."

He grunts at the guy as he leaves waving at Mamiko who copied the waving motion. Seeing the short exchange, he got ticked off so he returned the baby back to the stroller and grumbled something along the lines of 'you're too young to date'. Putting the previous situation in the back of his mind, he hears thunder rumbling overhead.

"Guess that's enough walking for us," he said watching dark clouds rolling in over them, "Let's go back home, lamb."

The baby girl replied with garbled glee as he pushed the stroller in the direction of a black car. Feeling some of the droplets on his skin, he makes haste placing the girl in the car as their driver folded the stroller to be put in the back. As soon as they rolled away from the park, heavy rain started to pour over the streets of Yokohama.

He slightly tightens his hold on Mamiko.

It was the first spring rain.

Somehow, he feels more uneasy.

* * *

"Energy readings?" Shouichi asked from his seat.

_He feels his heavy breathing._

"Stable," Spanner replied before asking, "Dimension plane?"

_Closing his eyes, he tightly gripped his palms._

"Located and locked," the red-headed man replied.

_The whirring noise of the machine echoes loud in his ears._

Nodding at his fellow mechanic's direction, Spanner grabs hold of a lever up, "Increasing Flame extraction…10%...20%..."

_A bright spark appears in the middle of the metal contraption._

The Vongola mechanic pressed a few keys before wiping the sweat off his brow, "Cooling mechanism enhanced on the ring."

_The spark turns into a slightly bigger vortex._

"Switching power supply to electricity," the dirty blonde mechanic bit hard on his lollipop as he flicked one of the switches.

_The light in the room flickers as the ring's light dies down._

"80%...90%...100%," Shouichi carefully watched and sighed at the message on the monitor, "Machine fully activated."

Enma's lips quivered as he released the air he held in. Eyes fixated, as if in a trance, at swirling mass of Flame energy cutting through their reality, he shakingly takes a step forward. Just beyond this 15-foot-high wall of pure Flames was his lovely daughter. No longer patient, he steeled his resolve and ignited his Earth Flames to clear the remaining distance.

"Enma-san? ENMA-SAN, STOP," Shouichi shouted as the man in question disappears into the portal, "…not yet."

"Let him go, Shou-chan," Byakuran's eyes glint as he removed the Sky Mare ring from the connecting machine, "Areth already told him where to go and who to find based on what this Dazai-san found out."

"That's the thing!"

The red-headed mechanic starts breathing unevenly, "That funnel of Flames only has coordinates to the dimension not the actual nation of the city! He could land anywhere in that world! Haphazard entry might destabilize that dimension and force them to a Singularity with ours!! They could even detect him if they had the tech- Are you even listening to me?!"

The white-haired man ignores his best friend's rambling in favor of feeding himself marshmallows. He wasn't worried about his fellow boss. The man was similar to Tsuna in many ways and they always find a way no matter the odds. In any case, the man has built-in compasses in his eyes. Those had to have some use.

He knows it doesn't but he doesn't care.

Stuffing his mouth with another marshmallow, he remains painfully aware of the object in his pocket. He hadn't seen that ring for quite a long while. After re-establishing the Millefiore, he had surrendered it to the Vongola Family who, in turn, gave it to the Vindice for safekeeping. Holding it again, made him feel tempted – the desire almost drove him insane once more. Even now, as it was withdrawn to the folds of his white pants, he constantly tries to remind himself that he was unlike the other versions of himself in the parallel worlds he'd seen.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

The grim frown on his face morphed into a smile he reserved for the little bundle of joy who just entered the room, 'Right…Areth is my reality now.'

"Sho-jii and Spanner-san too," Tatsuki greeted the two Vongola mechanics as he ran to his father's arms.

"Sorry, Byakuran-sama," Kikyo bows to his boss, "Tatsuki-sama insisted that he wanted to come along."

The Gesso boss nods at his Cloud guardian before facing his son, "Areth, didn't I tell you to rest?"

"I know, daddy," the small boy wearily smiled at the older Gesso, "But I promised Yosano-san and everyone else to come back and show them I'm okay."

" _Please don't be sad, everyone," the little white-haired boy assured from the bed._

" _Okay," squeezing the boy's hands, Yosano breathily said, "Have a safe trip, Tatsuki."_

" _This isn't really, goodbye yet," the small boy grinned, "I'll ask daddy to take me back here later. Promise."_

"Didn't you say I shouldn't break promises?"

Byakuran could feel the burning stares of his colleagues and friends on his back. He was reminded of all the times he sneaked off to the Vongola mansion, to Yuni's mansion, etc., and declared all sorts of 'harmless wars'. There were also the countless times he'd pranked his fellow bosses in the Vongola Council. These all occurred right after he had promised not to do it again.

But what can he do?

Conquering the world sounds like a chore and is overrated.

And he was bored.

It was better if he was the one who started something rather than some entity like Checker Face or Kawahira.

Smile further softening, Byakuran looked at the two mechanics, "The machine can handle at most five people traveling in it, right?"

Shouichi fixed his glasses and sighs, "Of course, but the amount of time we can keep it accessible lessens."

"9.6 hours," Spanner said, taking the lollipop stick out of his mouth, "Including travel time in and out."

Nodding at the silent mechanic who returned to typing something in the control panel, Byakuran faced the only guardian he currently has at his mansion, "Take charge for me Kikyo. Tell Deisy to stand-by as soon as he returns."

"Yes, Byakuran-sama," the green-haired man bowed before waving at the little boy in his boss's arms.

"There's also a slight discrepancy with the time there and here. Only about three days has passed here but with the rate that dimension's moving, it has been a month over there…so that would be…," Shouichi adds as he pulled a slide filled with computations to the forefront of the screen, "A day here equals about 9.8 days there which is intriguing considering that's also near the value of gravity on Earth..."

Byakuran hummed in genuine interest, "We'll check the correlation, if there is, later, when we all return."

"Anyway, we've input the coordinates to 'Sector F-3290, Yokohama, Japan'," Shouichi told them from his seat, "You can go anytime now."

Setting Tatsuki back on the ground, Byakuran fished out the Mare ring from his pocket. No longer burdened by his previous thoughts, he slips it back to his finger. Recognizing the familiar figure of the ring, the Gesso heir gasped in awe, "Daddy, do I get to see how it works now?"

Ruffling the boy's hair, the present Gesso boss laughed, "You have the front row seat, little Areth. Today, I'll teach you what it means to be chosen as the Mare ring holder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information:  
> *[Tsujimura](https://bungostraydogs.fandom.com/wiki/Mizuki_Tsujimura) is from the Bungo Stray Dogs Gaiden, a spin-off LN of BSD.  
> *[Ayatsuji-sensei](https://bungostraydogs.fandom.com/wiki/Yukito_Ayatsuji) is also from the Bungo Stray Dogs Gaiden, a spin-off LN of BSD.  
> *[Omi](https://a-three.fandom.com/wiki/Omi_Fushimi) is a character from the anime and mobile game A3!
> 
> I like cameos n stuff, you know the drill ;)
> 
> Work skin from [How to Mimic Letters, Fliers, and Stationery Without Using Images](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11549178/chapters/25935135) by [La_Temperanza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Temperanza/pseuds/La_Temperanza).  
> A/N:  
> Before anyone comes down in the comments and says something about the 'only **dad** in the playground thing', I'm here to say that I see Chuuya as both a mom and a dad. It's there as a contrast to what Dazai said first and represents the duality I see in the guy.
> 
> Chapter 9: March

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, a new author here, and I finally decided to post this fic after so much debate. As mentioned in the tags, this fic was written about a year ago (the first chapter, at least) because I was looking for good Chuuya-and-a-baby fics and found none that suited my taste. Additionally, I love stories that involve characters trying to take care of a baby/children, and thus this was born. 
> 
> Please don't expect regular updates because I, myself, am a very harsh critic on my fics so I always try to take my time writing until it passes my criteria of 'good'. Nevertheless, I assure you that by the time you are reading this I am already writing several chapters ahead.
> 
> P.S. if anyone wants to/knows someone, feel free to draw Chuuya and the baby. I have certain scenes in mind that I want to see drawn (or maybe even a comic strip lol) so PM me, if you're interested. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos, and comments. Bookmark it and subscribe if you like this.  
> It helps a lot as motivation to put out a chapter.


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